Hey Sports Fans. It’s Super Bowl week. Buckle up for the Niners vs Chiefs. Could be a classic. For the first time ever, it’s Live from Las Vegas! Also, for the first time, this Super Bowl offers a whole new spectacle featuring Taylor Swift, the Swifties, and conspiracy cults.
We’re actually not interested in the football aspects or outcome of the game. Our interest lies in the attendant cyber, social, and gambling threats. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s dive in.
In this post we will:
- Introduce two new tools in our toolkit from Perplexity.ai and Similarweb
- Review the basics of Super Bowl economics and the online sportsbook market
- Consider cyber and social threats and risks
- Discuss Responsible Gaming issues
- Showcase threat hunting examples we found using DomainTools
- Have some fun with AI predictions for prop bets and the game
Introducing Perplexity.ai and Similarweb
This is the first post where we have used Perplexity.ai and Similarweb. We will be adding these to our toolkit, along with DomainTools, ChatGPT 4.0 and Microsoft Copilot. We’ll let the screenshots tell much of the story, but first here’s a quick introduction.
Perplexity.ai [12]: Kudos to Kevin Roose for his excellent NYTimes piece. [10] It inspired us to try Perplexity.ai as an alternative to search (Google and Bing) and other Generative AI tools (ChatGPT and Copilot). At the risk of sounding like a cheerleader, I’m stunned by how easy, effective and trustworthy it is. I found myself using it differently – for discovering new insights and organizing this piece, not just as a research or editorial assistant. Most of all, I quickly developed trust – as it provided supporting evidence and didn’t wing it.
Similarweb [13]: Similarweb is a tool for web analytics, web traffic, and market intelligence. I’ve been using the free Chrome plug-in for years. For this piece, I used a trial version of Similarweb Pro to provide comparative analysis of sportsbook companies and audience profiling for research on Responsible Gaming.
Super Bowl Economics and Online Sportsbooks Market Basics
Super Bowl Economics: We all know that the Super Bowl is a big economic deal. But as this blog is about data-driven insights, we try to substantiate our assertions and theories with data. Figure 1 shows how easy it is to use Perplexity.ai to find succinct and authoritative answers.
Online Sportsbook Market: Our previous research indicates that, as of July 2022, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM held approximately 80% of the online sports betting (sportsbook) market. [14] For our research we wanted to understand cyber threats and responsible gaming performance for each of these three leading brands. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, Similarweb Pro provides rich comparative data on Web traffic and user demographics.
Cyber and Social Threats
Cyber Threats: Sporting Events in general, and the Super Bowl in particular, have long been prime targets for scammers and traditional cyber threats like phishing, counterfeit goods, DDoS attacks and malicious or predatory advertising. [2] DraftKings and FanDuel, and their users, have been victimized in credential stealing attacks. [16] With the legalization of sports betting in more than 30 states, and heavy promotion from sports leagues, celebrities, and mainstream media, online sports gambling has been normalized. [1,3,7,8,9,14] Perplexity.ai gives an excellent overview of Super Bowl-themed cyber scams in Figure 4.
Social Threats: Taylor Swift’s relationship with the Chiefs’ star, Travis Kelce, has had a dramatic impact on the game, advertising, scams, and conspiracy theories. Perplexity.ai provides a comprehensive overview of the scams in Figure 5, and the social impacts in Figure 6.
Responsible Gaming
Severe gambling disorder is a public health issue affecting nearly 2% (5.7M) of the U.S. population. The economic costs of this addiction are enormous. [7] To help mitigate the effects, online sportsbook operators are required to implement Responsible Gaming controls that monitor problem usage patterns and users. State Gaming commissions enforce responsible gaming policies and regulations for operators and advertisers. [5,6] The ESPN Feb 2 report that the Jacksonville Jaguars are seeking reimbursement of $20M in gambling losses incurred by an employee from FanDuel and the NFL is a timely notice on problem gambling. [8] Examples of recent fines assessed by State Regulators for violations are shown by Perplexity.ai in Figure 7.
Domain Threat Hunting with DomainTools
To stay ahead of cyber attacks, sportsbook operators must employ proactive threat hunting measures that monitor threats to their brand. For this post, we created investigations and tags in DomainTools to monitor suspicious new domain registrations by filtering on terms associated with sportsbook operators (e.g., DraftKings, FanDuel) or online gambling (e.g., parlay, sportsbook). Using a small set of filters, we identified 120 new domain registrations from 1-Nov-2023 to 1-Feb-2024 that we classified as high risk (risk score above 70).
Figure 8 is a clear example of a Domain Typosquatting registration targeting DraftKings. In this case the domain draftkingssportsbok.com was first observed resolving to IP 96.126.123.244 and hosted in the US by the ISP, Linode. DomainTools classified this as a Phishing threat with a high risk score of 80.
Figure 9 shows another domain, swiftiecoin.xyz. First detected on 31 January 2024, swiftiecoin.xyz was classified as a phishing threat with a risk score of 95. It resolves to IP 13.248.243.5 and is hosted in the US by Amazon Technologies, Inc. This domain lures Taylor Swift fans into a cryptocurrency scheme.
AI Predictions
To conclude, let’s have some fun with a few AI predictions.
Figure 10 shows predictions for a prop bet (proposition bet) for the half-time show starring Usher. Looks reasonable.
Finally, how about some game predictions? Figure 11 shows the same prompt submitted to both ChatGPT 4.0 and Microsoft Copilot.
ChatGPT declined to make a prediction, citing design and training restrictions that don’t allow it “to predict or speculate on future events, including sports outcomes”. Fair enough. However, as others have reported getting game predictions from ChatGPT [11], it’s reasonable to ask whether ChatGPT may have new guardrails or whether this is an indication of laziness. [17]
Microsoft Copilot had no reservations and confidently offered its predictions as shown in Figure 12. Just one (big) problem – Tyreek Hill no longer plays for the Chiefs!
With that, enjoy the game! Beware of scams. Don’t blindly trust AI predictions – always verify. Be safe, apply zero trust principles, and if you bet, do so responsibly.
References
- PBS – Super Bowl betting estimated to reach $16 billion , 7-Feb-2023
- Sportsbusinessjournal.com – Cyber-risk at live sporting events is growing , 27-Sept-2023
- Masslive.com – Are you and your kids overwhelmed by Mass. sports betting ads? You’re not alone , 16-March-2023
- NPR – How often will Taylor Swift be shown during the Super Bowl? Now you can bet on it , 4-Feb-2024
- Onlinegambling.com – US GAMBLING LAWS GUIDE (2024)
- kleinmoynihan.com – A Primer On Gambling Advertising Laws , 24-May-2023
- CNN – The dark side of the sports betting boom , 10-Feb-2023
- ESPN – Jaguars asked FanDuel to return stolen $20M, source says , 2-Feb-2024
- Massachusetts Gaming Commission – Fantasy Sports Operators , Sept 2023
- NYTimes – Can This A.I.-Powered Search Engine Replace Google? It Has for Me. , 1-Feb-2024
- Tom’s Guide – I asked ChatGPT, Claude and Bard to predict the Super Bowl result — here’s the winner. , 4-Feb-2024
- Perplexity.ai – Perplexity Blog About
- Similarweb LTD. About Similarweb
- iGaming – July US Sports Betting Market Monitor: FanDuel in control with 47% of national market share , 29-July-2022
- playthegame.org – Introducing the sports betting data supply chain and the predatory integrity industry , 18-Dec-2023
- DarkReading – DraftKings Account Takeovers Frame Sports-Betting Cybersecurity Dilemma , 22-Nov-2022
- Fortune – Sam Altman says ChatGPT ‘should now be much less lazy!’ Users complained it was refusing and ignoring too many prompts , 5-Feb-2024