The Russian hacker figured out the algorithm by which slot machines work, and demanded a large casino in Australia a ransom of at least $ 10 million, threatening otherwise to betray the algorithm. Disclosure of this type of information would lead to chaos in casinos around the world.

The aforementioned incident occurred with the Sydney Aristocrat Leisure casino last year, but it became known only now, after the publication in the Wired interview of an extortionist. He was a mathematician and a programmer, a leader of a group from St. Petersburg, specializing in high-tech crimes.

Criminals earned over $ 300 thousand. A week, exploiting vulnerabilities in slot machines around the world. Their victims were playing in the US, Singapore and Macao, but, according to representatives of Aristocrat Leisure, they were not aware of such fraud in their casino. Nevertheless, the leadership of Aristocrat Leisure received from the group an electronic letter, according to which hackers allegedly managed to crack the algorithm used in a number of games, which allows to calculate when the next winning combination.

According to the Herald Sun, the perpetrators promised not to use the "cheat" if the casino pays them. Management Aristocrat Leisure did not name the size of the ransom, however, as reported by Wired, it is an eight-digit sum.

The gaming establishment refused to cooperate with the criminals and appealed to law enforcement agencies.

As noted by representatives of the casino, they have long known that eight games on the outdated slot machines of the Mark VI were hacked. They even reported vulnerabilities to game owners and encouraged the use of newer machines. At present there are about 100 thousand. Mark VI. In particular, in Australia, still use 18 thousand. , And "cheat" works for 600 of them.