{"id":238588,"date":"2022-10-20T11:06:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T16:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=238588"},"modified":"2022-10-20T12:03:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T17:03:12","slug":"chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Government Could Be Behind Spy Malware Targeting Online Casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity researchers with Kapersky\u2019s Global Analysis Team have identified unusual malware specifically targeting online casinos based in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n

\"GameplayerFramework\"
The hackers behind the GameplayerFramework appear to be more interested in surveillance than financial exploitation, according to Kapersky. (Image: Security Orb)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Known as \u201cthe GameplayerFramework,\u201d the malware maintains continuous unauthorized access to a victim organization\u2019s system, stealing data, but with no apparent financial motive. Kapersky classified the hackers\u2019 activities as \u201ccyber espionage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hacking group behind the activity, dubbed \u201cDiceyF,\u201d has been around for several years targeting online casinos, according to Kapersky. But its latest methods are new.<\/p>\n

Reconnaissance on Target<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the case analyzed by Kapersky, DiceyF spoofed a secure messaging app, Mango, which was used for internal messaging by the victim organization. The hackers displayed a graphical interface on the user\u2019s machine \u2013 a fake Mango window, which the victim believed was legitimate.<\/p>\n

The window referenced the name of the victim organization and even mentioned that its IT department was on the 10th floor, suggesting the group had conducted some form of reconnaissance on the company\u2019s offices.<\/p>\n

Such reconnaissance is not common for targeted malware, and I think it\u2019s really amazing,\u201d <\/strong>said Georgy Kucherin from Kapersky\u2019s Global Analysis Team. Kucherin was speaking at last week\u2019s Hacktivity 2022 conference in Budapest, Hungary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His colleague, Kurt Baumgartner, added that the hacker\u2019s focus on the online casino\u2019s source code and databases might tell you about an interest in the movement of money and the identities of customers.<\/p>\n

“Possibly we have a mix of espionage and [intellectual property] theft. But the true motivations remain a mystery,” the two researchers said in a technical write-up published this week.<\/p>\n

Social Order<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The group\u2019s interest in money flows and customer names could indicate DiceyF is working with the backing of the Chinese government<\/a> in Beijing, which is waging a war<\/a> against cross-border gambling and capital flight.<\/p>\n

\n

Most online casinos based in Southeast Asia target players on the Chinese mainland, where gambling is illegal apart from state-controlled lotteries. When the Kapersky researchers analyzed the GameplayerFramework, they found its creators had used Chinese plugin names.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In July 2019, Chinese state media said the amount gambled illegally through online sites from mainland China was more than one trillion yuan each year ($145 billion), almost twice the annual income of the national lottery. This was \u201ccausing great harm to China\u2019s social-economic order,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n

Great Firewall<\/h2>\n

China maintains a vast program of internet censorship, dubbed the \u201cGreat Firewall.\u201d This is designed to restrict access to undesirable foreign information sources, as well as sites that host politically sensitive material, gambling, violence, or pornography.<\/p>\n

\n

It was reported in 2013 that the country\u2019s \u201cinternet police\u201d task force comprised some 2 million people. They maintain an eternal game of Whac-a-Mole<\/em> with online gaming operators, who employ hundreds of related \u201cmirror\u201d domains that customers can access once others have been blocked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It’s logical that China\u2019s Internet Police might be dabbling in a spot of cyberespionage against the casinos, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity researchers with Kapersky\u2019s Global Analysis Team have identified unusual malware specifically targeting online casinos based in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Known as \u201cthe GameplayerFramework,\u201d the malware maintains continuous unauthorized access to a victim organization\u2019s system, stealing data, but with no apparent financial motive. Kapersky classified the hackers\u2019 activities as \u201ccyber espionage.\u201d The hacking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":238589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,19,61],"tags":[82061,83355,83356],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChinese Government Could Be Behind Online Casino Spy Malware<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DiceyF, the hacking group behind the GamePlayerFramework malware, could be working for Beijing against online casinos.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese Government Could Be Behind Online Casino Spy Malware\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DiceyF, the hacking group behind the GamePlayerFramework malware, could be working for Beijing against online casinos.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-20T16:06:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-20T17:03:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/china.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"593\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/\",\"name\":\"Chinese Government Could Be Behind Online Casino Spy Malware\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/china.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-20T16:06:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-20T17:03:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"DiceyF, the hacking group behind the GamePlayerFramework malware, could be working for Beijing against online casinos.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chinese-government-could-be-behind-online-casino-spy-malware\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/china.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/china.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":593,\"caption\":\"The hackers behind the GameplayerFramework appear to be more interested in surveillance than financial exploitation, according to Kapersky. 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