Posts Tagged ‘EPT Barcelona malware’

PokerStars causes Controversy by using Same EPT Barcelona Hotel

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

Several members of the high stakes poker community were spooked at EPT Barcelona last year when criminals busted into their hotel rooms and installed malware on their computers. Jens Kyllonen was especially shook by the matter after his hotel room was broken into multiple times. The perpetrator(s) installed a virus on his laptop in an effort to track any sensitive information that he entered on the computer.

Given all of this, it’s a little surprising that PokerStars has chosen the same hotel to direct players to during the 2014 EPT Barcelona. One of the biggest problems regarding last year’s “sharking” attacks was that the Hotel Arts Barcelona security was horrid. The hallway security cameras weren’t working properly, and those at the front desk weren’t very helpful either.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, said that PokerStars has used Arts Hotel for several years. He added that, despite the sharking attacks in 2013, most players seemed more than happy with the services provided by the hotel.

Of course, players are by no means bound to stay at the Hotel Arts. And you can guarantee that Kyllonen is one player who’ll be looking for somewhere else to stay. While gone from his room, he came back and discovered that his computer had been stolen. Upon returning with security, he discovered the laptop back in its original spot.

After having an independent company look at his laptop, Kyllonen found out that somebody had installed malware so they could have remote access to his screen. Luckily, the Finnish online poker pro was smart enough not to use his computer after the bizarre and puzzling incident. We can only hope that nothing similar happens during the 2014 EPT Barcelona event.