National Lottery Accounts Might Have Been Hacked

The National Lottery was first drawn way back in 1994 and the highest jackpot amount reached a whopping £161,653,000. Traditionally, people fill in a paper sheet with their favourite numbers and pay at a kiosk. However, as technology moved forward, it became possible for users to gamble online which seemed more environmentally-friendly. However, any system can be breached and poses a threat to people’s privacy. Unfortunately, it looks likely that 26,500 National Lottery accounts have been hacked. Despite this, the company remains bullish and believes the data wasn’t accessed due to a vulnerability in their security systems. They also added that no money was withdrawn from the compromised accounts although suspicious activity occurred in 50 cases.

A spokeswoman for the National Lottery clarified:

“Camelot submitted a breach report to us last night which we have reviewed. We will be talking to Camelot today,”

“The Data Protection Act requires organisations to do all they can to keep personal data secure – that includes protecting it from cyberattacks. Where we find this has not happened, we can take action.”

“Organisations should be reminded that cybersecurity is a matter for the boardroom, not just the IT department.”

Apparently, Camelot became aware of the problem on Sunday and issued the following statement:

“We are currently taking all the necessary steps to fully understand what has happened, but we believe that the email address and password used on the National Lottery website may have been stolen from another website where affected players use the same details,” it said in a statement.”

“We do not hold full debit card or bank account details in National Lottery players’ online accounts and no money has been taken or deposited.”

“However, we do believe that this attack may have resulted in some of the personal information that the affected players hold in their online account being accessed.”

Widespread hacks are becoming commonplace and it’s a worrying trend. At least people’s bank details weren’t accessed but other information can be sold to third parties or used to try and acquire more sensitive information.