Sean Catlett, director of group security for Betfair, has announced his resignation from the online gambling site effective at the end of October.
The resignation follows the revelation that the world’s largest online betting site’s data storage was hacked by cyber criminals who stole 3.15 million usernames featuring encrypted security questions, 2.9 million usernames with addresses and bank account details of 89,744 usernames. Although the hacking ocurred 18 months ago, Betfair made no attempt to inform its patrons, claiming that its customers’ information was not at risk.
“Eighteen months ago we were subject to an attempted data theft,” a company statement said. “Because of our security measures the data was unusable for fraudulent activity and we were able to recover the data intact.”
The theft ocurred in March of 2010, although Betfair wasn’t aware of the security breach until May, 2010, when a server crashed in one of the company’s data center’s in Malta.
Betfair alerted all necessary authorities after learning of the cyber crime, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Australian Federal Police, UK Serious Organised Crime Agency and German law enforcement agents. Betfair worked in tandem with the authorities and insisted that “it was established that there was no risk to customers.”
A consultant company that Betfair hired after the security breach ocurred submitted a report of its findings to Betfair, stating that the site’s data security was not at its optimum best. “Appropriate information security governance is not in place within Betfair and as a consequence, the business has been exposed to significant risks,” the report said.
Betfair claims that it now has put into place all of the recommendations made from the reports of the independent IT consulting firm, Information Risk Management, and has done everything possible to minimize the risks of another security breach. It has established a new code of customer commitment, promising customers quality service and ensuring data security. Betfair also publishes a quarterly report of its progress toward its renewed customer service.
Catlett joins many other Betfair personnel who have left the UK company since they went public in October, 2010. Chief Executive David Yu, Chairman Ed Wray and almost two dozen security employees have left since the breach was discovered.
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