All You Need to Know About Online Gambling Cybersecurity *

*This is a collaborative post.

Given the huge amount of money that changes hands in casinos, it should come as no surprise as to why gambling institutions have become incessant targets by thieves and criminals ever since the inception of these establishments. This best explains the reason for the high presence of security operatives on casino floors in order to counter any threat that might arise.

Technology is becoming prevalent and for lots of businesses, moving away from the traditional “brick and mortar” setup to having an online presence not only saves costs for setting up but also makes things easy and convenient for them and their customers. This is evident in the presence of several e-commerce services been rendered today.

Gambling has also not been spared out in the expansion to an online presence. There are numerous websites on the internet nowadays where gamblers can go and stake on their favourite games.

Online Casinos – Juicy Prey for Cyber Criminals

These internet casinos have soon become a regular point of attack for cybercriminals due to a large amount of money they look to make away with if their attack is successful. It is in response to this that stakeholders in online casino establishments and security outfits began to put in place several security measures to counter these attacks in order to keep their assets and data safe.

Given the millions of dollars lost to cyberattacks, major online casinos have begun taking online security as seriously as it should be. Many of them invest heavily in employing cybersecurity experts in a bid to create air-tight security setups that are difficult to breach.

However hard they might try, threats like Dedicated Denial of Service (DDoS), hacking and data theft still remains threats they have to deal with occasionally. It is no saying that cybersecurity is of great importance to online casinos as they are more likely to get hit by criminals online than offline – on a daily basis.

Threats Faced by Online Casinos

Hacking would top the list of the major cyber threat faced by gambling websites. Often times, their system is hit with a DDoS attack which diverts the attention of the security experts while the main attack is going on someplace else – either to steal data or some money.

Online gambling operators need to put in place security measures to prevent hackers from gaining backdoor access to their databases or storage as they owe their customers the duty of keeping their data safe from hackers. In addition to this, there is also a possibility of financial information getting stolen and being used for malicious operations which can lead to an irreplaceable loss.

The Solution for Online Gambling in Sight?

Many online casinos have started implementing end-to-end encryption in their data transmission so as to keep information safe. By doing this, the information being sent to and from the recipients are encoded while being transmitted. These encoded messages can only be decoded and understood when it gets to the endpoints of the communication chain. This way, even if the information is intercepted, it is simply useless to the hacker.

In addition, online casinos are often guided by regulatory bodies which ensure that strict regulations are put in place in order to ensure extra security for the casinos and their customers. For gamblers, it is advisable that they check with their gambling website to ensure they are regulated by the authorized body of the state where they are based out of.

Securing Consumer Trust

For online gambling platforms to be successful, not only do they have to bank on their existing reputation – provided they have an actual casino – or have a sleek looking user interface and user experience, they need to gain the trust of their users. Gaining users’ trust takes time and effort to build but this can also go away in a flash if they were to be compromised by hackers.

Once users develop the notion that the games being played have been compromised either in-house or by hackers, they lose the trust they have for the gambling facility and this, in turn, leads the facility to run at a loss. Seeing how devastating the effect of an attack can be, it is therefore pertinent that game developers and casino operators invest heavily in cybersecurity in order to ensure that they do not go out of business.

Security for Online Gambling

Besides these gambling operators, users have to take it upon themselves to ensure they are safe while gambling online. The ways by which gamblers can remain safe while playing are pretty basic and anyone who abides by some pretty basic rules will barely face any challenge while gambling online. Outlined below are two of these rules:

• Use a dedicated device for gambling: For those who gamble online professionally, or can afford to have a dedicated device, getting one would go a long way in ensuring online security. This device, whether a phone, tablet or PC should not be used for any other function online – except for the purpose of gambling.

This helps reduce the risk of getting viruses, malware or spyware from corrupted files on the internet. It is also advisable to get any of the best free antivirus software available on the internet to check the infection of these malicious files or programs.

• Install a VPN: Using a VPN for online poker or other gambling activities has its benefits which are beyond security. For those who cannot afford to get a dedicated device and even for those who can, using a VPN can also help you stay secure when playing online.

Apart from this, VPN helps beat ring-fencing and can grant users access to other gambling websites that are geo-restricted in their location. This way, users can make more money and have more fun gambling.

Staying safe online is a continuous act as cybercriminals are not relenting in their efforts to breach defenses and steal sensitive data and assets. Gambling operators and individuals must continually check their systems for breaches and from time to time, reinforce their defenses in accordance with the latest security technologies.