UB Reacts to Player Data Leak

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Last week, a link was published on the 2p2 forum through which personal data of UB players were available to download. After 9 minutes, administrators removed the post but an unpredictable number of downloads could have already occurred by the time. UB now responds to the issue.

Hacker

A formerly unknown user posted in the 2p2 forum’s Cereus topic a link last week, through which UB account owners’ personal data were available to download. The list contained information on about 2 million US, 319,000 Canadian, 137,000 British and close to 1 million players from other countries. Neither password and debit/credit card information, nor UB’s twin site Absolute Poker player data have been compromised.

Leaked data covers the following:

Name
Screen name
E-mail address
Phone number
Address
Account balance
IP address
Payment methods (e.g. “echeck”)
Date of birth
Account number (the unique ID of the UB account, not bank account)
VIP status
Partner status
Blacklist status

Although site administrators were quick to remove the link, the 9 minutes could have been more than enough for it to reach several downloads. A lot of players are now concerned with the ways cheaters can abuse their data, not to mention the general shock about the fact that such leak could occur.

Mark Slatcher of Tulsa Poker Examiner asked UB about the issue and received the following letter in response:

“Hello Mark,

Thank you for making contact.

We are aware of the recently reported Cereus database leak, and we are investigating it. We want to assure you that we take this breach seriously, and we remain committed to the highest level of integrity in dealing with our players and to the protection of their privacy.

Our immediate concern was to determine that the published information did not compromise our players' personal banking or credit card details, and we can confirm that it has not, nor does it include social security numbers.

This investigation is a top priority for us, and our examination of all the facts will be both methodical and comprehensive. Our review of the published files is ongoing, though we believe them to be an out-of date version of our current database. If our inquiry confirms that an actual theft of UB and Absolute Poker data has occurred, we will do everything possible to bring the criminals to justice.

We are taking all available precautionary measures to ensure the safety of your account. Your patience in this matter is appreciated while we work to uncover further details.

Regards,

UB Support
Support@UB.net”

The Cereus network has lost the vast majority of its player pool after Black Friday, dropping from being one of the online poker market leaders to the 42nd place on the room/network money list. This latest scandal (in addition to owing $54 million to its players as well as several previous major scams both at UB and at Absolute Poker) does not help the company’s reputation either.