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Hackers managed to break into the UK National Lottery, accessing no less than 26,500 accounts and making changes to some 50 accounts, according to official information.
Camelot, the company behind the UK lottery, confirmed the hack, but explained that the lottery is not affected in any way, pointing out that users with registered accounts need to change their passwords as soon as possible.
“On 28 November 2016, as part of our online security monitoring, we became aware of suspicious activity on a very small proportion of our players’ online National Lottery Accounts,” Camelot explains.
For the moment, it seems that no data has been compromised and the lottery says they do not store any credit card information. No money has been deposited or withdrawn from affected accounts.
Out of the total 26,500 accounts exposed following the breach, approximately 50 suffered some changes, including modifications of personal details. These accounts have already been suspended, and the lottery is working with owners on unlocking them.
Password reset notifications sent to all players
Everyone else is getting a password reset notification, and the lottery says that it expects similar attacks in the future, so it’s monitoring activity to make sure that all breaches are blocked.
“Cyber criminals such as this are persistent, and we are continuing to monitor and protect our systems. We are also working closely with the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre on an ongoing basis on this criminal matter,” the lottery organizer said.
At the moment, no hacker or hacking group claimed the attack, and it’s not yet clear how exactly the breach was possible, but the lottery says that it’s working with authorities on blocking similar attempts in the future and preventing accounts from being exposed.
If you also have an account with the UK National Lottery, the best thing you can do right now is to change your password to make sure your data is secure.