Hacking Slot Machines by Reverse-Engineering the Random Number Generators
The RNG Program. Inside the slot machine is a microprocessor similar to the one in your home computer. Instead of running Word or Excel, it runs a special program, the RNG, that generates numbers to correspond to the symbols on the reel of the slot machine. You might say that the RNG is in perpetual motion. Casino General Terms and Conditions Apply, slot machine algorithms they can start playing their favorite slot games either for real cash or for free. For example, the next stage is to purchase petroleum. The casino looks at everything from a broad perspective and a long term perspective, all of the symbols that can be found in the offline.
Interesting story:
The venture is built on Alex’s talent for reverse engineering the algorithms — known as pseudorandom number generators, or PRNGs — that govern how slot machine games behave. Armed with this knowledge, he can predict when certain games are likeliest to spit out moneyinsight that he shares with a legion of field agents who do the organization’s grunt work.
These agents roam casinos from Poland to Macau to Peru in search of slots whose PRNGs have been deciphered by Alex. They use phones to record video of a vulnerable machine in action, then transmit the footage to an office in St. Petersburg. There, Alex and his assistants analyze the video to determine when the games’ odds will briefly tilt against the house. They then send timing data to a custom app on an agent’s phone; this data causes the phones to vibrate a split second before the agent should press the “Spin” button. By using these cues to beat slots in multiple casinos, a four-person team can earn more than $250,000 a week.
It’s an interesting article; I have no idea how much of it is true.
The sad part is that the slot-machine vulnerability is so easy to fix. Although the article says that “writing such algorithms requires tremendous mathematical skill,” it’s really only true that designing the algorithms requires that skill. Using any secure encryption algorithm or hash function as a PRNG is trivially easy. And there’s no reason why the system can’t be designed with a real RNG. There is some randomness in the system somewhere, and it can be added into the mix as well. The programmers can use a well-designed algorithm, like my own Fortuna, but even something less well-thought-out is likely to foil this attack.
Posted on August 7, 2017 at 6:00 AM • 43 Comments
The hacker with the nickname “Alex”, who lives in St. Petersburg, claims to have found a way to hack a slot machine and get huge winnings. He says that it’s really possible to hack a slot machine, doesn’t matter if it is online or a physical slot. Also he says that they bring him 250 thousand dollars a week. Alex also states that it easy to hack a slot machine of one particular developer, Aristocrat Leisure Limited, and even plans to sell them his algorithm of hacking, for millions of course. However, the company reacted very calmly to his statement.
The Russian hacker told all this in an interview with the American technical journal Wired. He declares that for 8 years he has won money in various online casinos, turning them for himself into personal ATMs. It is not clear why, having such a colossal source of income, he decided to get rid of it. It’s more like that he does not know how to hack slot machine systematically. He tries to ensure developers that he can and tries to get money from them.
Let’s see if there is a way to hack slot machine and what exactly Alex invented.
How to beat slot machine according to Alex’s theory?
The identity of Alex is not established. He calls himself a programmer, a mathematician and a graduate of the Academy of the Federal Security Service of Russia, naturally, without providing this evidence. The hacker also says that he once worked at the military university in St. Petersburg, specializing in teaching cryptography and hardware hacking.
Slot Machine Software Algorithms Software
Hacker told to American journal Wired about his own unique method of reverse engineering of the RNG. If to simplify, he says that he has uncovered a way of generating random numbers in Aristocrat slots and knows how they will behave. Also he can hack Aristocrat slots in land based casinos.
To hack slot machine, Alex needs an agent network
Also, Alex talked about his own network of agents, allegedly legion, and who work all over the world, shooting video with the help of mobile gadgets about the work of a variety of slots. It is noteworthy that he does have “agents”, and four people from this list in the US already have a criminal record for fraud.
Video from various gambling places of the planet were collected and immediately analyzed in Russia. The hacker claims that his observations made it possible to reveal when payments in games will be at their maximum. In fact, he is sure that he has found a method how to hack slot machine.
The results of the video analysis were immediately sent to the “agent” through a special application along with the winning strategy of the game. And as a result, the “agents” won, collecting a common bank for 250 thousand dollars a week.
The best success “agents” were those who conducted the shooting of slots as imperceptibly as possible. For this work, people were specially selected who understood the importance of acting secretly, knew how to behave correctly so as not to cause suspicion. Most of the “agents” of the hacker look confident and respectable. But even in case of arrest for unauthorized filming in a casino hacker guarantees them protection and legal support.
Alex decided to close such organized and profitable business, which brought him income for 8 years. The hacker demanded from the Australian developer of the slot machines, Aristocrat, several million for his method of slot machine hacking.
Aristocrat: to hack slot machine in the Internet or casino is impossible
Aristocrat Leisure Limited has been working in the gambling industry for more than 60 years. Company which is developing and maintaining land based and virtual casinos, confirmed it has received a letter from hacker. In it, Alex reports that he knows how to hack slot machine of the developer, and therefore requires money for the non-disclosure of this information.
The hacker offers not just to give his way of slot machine hacking, but also promises to turn off the agent network.
Alex himself calls his proposal a deal that will allow to stop compromising the Aristocrat trademark. As he believes, this service is estimated in an eight-digits amount. As a gesture of goodwill, he not only tells how to hack the slot machines, but also helps developers to eliminate weaknesses to make the product inaccessible to hacking.
To confirm the seriousness of their knowledge, hacker sent the developer a breakdown of his pseudo-generator. With its help he can hack the 50 Lions machine of the company or Heart of Gold. To persuade Aristocrat Leisure Limited to make a decision in its favor, Alex threatens to surrender information to competitors. Also he can simply put their workings on the network. Such a move, in his opinion, will lead to the fact that everyone can hack slot machine.
The way to hack slot machine by Aristocrat is a myth
In the fall of 2016, Alex contacted a representative of Aristocrat Leisure Limited. Head of Compliance, Tracy Elkerton, talked to the hacker on the phone.
She expressed interest in a method that allows Alex to win a slightly larger amount of money.
“It is very unlikely that Aristocrat will pay for information,” Tracy said. “It’s just not how we work. We have developed a solution to promote our products, and we are comfortable with this solution. ”
A company spokesman said that Aristocrat Leisure Limited has zero tolerance for unethical behavior. And this means that no one will pay a million for “help in eliminating weak points of slots”. Moreover, Alex did not provide any actual evidence that his way to hack slot machine works.
Slot Machine Rng Algorithm
Alex’s attitude to online casinos and players
Alex is cynical enough about the casino and the culture of gambling. Gamblers are stupid he thinks. He calls himself Robin Hood, who takes money from the rich (meaning the casino). But he didn’t say a word about how the network Robin Hood helps poor people. Here are a few quotes from his Wired interview.
“My job is simply to help myself and people to take money from the casino. Just a small counterbalance to the global gaming system, where the casino always wins. ”
“Most gambling seemed to me nothing more than a tax on stupidity.”
“My agents are just gamers, like everyone else. Only they are able to make better predictions in the stakes. Yes, this ability is achieved thanks to my technology, it’s true. But why should this be illegal? At a basic level, it’s like using a calculator to count faster and more accurately, instead of doing it all in your head. ”
“Sometimes I fantasize about just giving away my way to hack slot machine to people. This would lead to a “zombie apocalypse”: equipped with information and software, player using a simple smartphone will be able to turn slot machine into ATM. ”
Conclusion: it is impossible to beat slot machine in an unfair way
Slot Machine Software Algorithms Tutorial
The story of Alex and his way to hack slot machine made a lot of noise. But it didn’t affect Aristocrat Company.
The developer’s representatives admitted that a technique was found that slightly increases the player’s advantage. But obviously not so much to worry about it and to hide the way from the public.
Slot Machine Algorithm Coding
Further, Alex plans to apply with a similar proposal to IGT, since he claims that he understood the algorithm of the RNG of their Atronic slot machine. However, as in the case of Aristocrat, hacker does not have any evidence of systemic major gains.
Slot Machine Design Software
All this history leads to a natural conclusion: it is impossible to predict the algorithm of the RNG operating on licensed slot machines. In addition, in each new slot developers improve the generator and its protection.