Raymer hacking a warning for all

A shocking if somewhat basic hacking of a well known poker player's account took place at PokerStars.com over the weekend, highlighting once again the danger of constantly lurking criminal hackers looking for opportunities to steal players blind, and the consequent need for care and vigilance.

Fortunately for poker ace Greg Raymer, the potential victim in Sunday's attempted theft, the hacker was none too subtle and the alert was sounded before the funds vanished.

The hacker's logic that a poker ace like Raymer would likely have good money in his account clearly didn't consider the possibility that such a high profile player would have his every move online watched by competitors, and it was this that saved the day.

Reports surfacing this week suggest that the would-be thief used brute force and repetition to guess Raymer's Poker Stars password and gain access to his account. Having accomplished this, the hacker than opened up several heads-up sit-'n'-go tournaments with large amounts and began dumping the contents of the account into that of another member with the "handle" Ikeyrson.

This extraordinary and very public online activity was quickly noted and PokerStars security alerted, leading to a commendably fast reaction in locking all concerned accounts down before the money could be moved any further. The stolen funds were transferred back to Raymer's account, and the poker pro immediately beefed up his password to obviate any further hacks.

Out of respect for European privacy laws, PokerStars has not publicly identified the guilty party, but insiders say that it is unlikely that the site management will let the matter go at that, and the hacker will probably be pursued and prosecuted criminally.