A bug that costed half a million $ and more



Here is a case that shows what a software bug can cost especially when the bug is directly linked to making money.  Imagine being at a casino and finding a bug that can help you get rich in minutes, this is what happened when a Las Vegas local named John Kane discovered a firmware bug present in 10 casino machines at  the Silverton Casino Lodge.The glitch had been hidden for seven years.
The management had been suspicious of Kane for quite some time. On his last day  of  winning, In about one hour he scored five jackpots, and after Kane didn’t collect his last win of $8,200, the Gaming Control Board removed the machine and took it to the lab for testing.

"There they discovered the secret behind Kane’s lucky streak: he was exploiting a previously-unknown firmware bug present in the Game King and nine other IGT machines"

"Now Kane and the bug he exploited are at the center of a high-stakes legal battle before a federal judge in Las Vegas. The question: was it a criminal violation of federal anti-hacking law for Kane and a friend to knowingly take advantage of the glitch to the tune of at least half-a-million dollars? Prosecutors say it was. But in a win for the defense, a federal magistrate found last fall that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act doesn’t apply, and recommended the hacking charge be dismissed. The issue is now being argued in front of U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du, who’s likely to rule this month."

Read further :

Source: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/game-king/all/

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