The Major Tech Challenges for Online Casinos

Posted by Harry Kane on Sunday, April 30, 2017

When the first online casinos emerged back in 1996, the level of security and protection was minimal at best. This was not too much of a concern back then, however, as identity theft remained a burgeoning art and cyber thieves lacked the sophistication to hack the majority of sites.

We have subsequently seen a subtle game of cat and mouse between online casino brands and malevolent hackers, as technology has evolved to create greater challenges and advanced solutions. This is a battle that continues to this day, although the nature of the conflict continues to change on an annual basis.

What Are the Major Tech Challenges for Online Casino Brands?

The permutations have changed again recently, thanks primarily to increased levels of marketplace competition and the rise of major, offshore attacks that are exceptionally difficult to track. This has created new risks and changed the priority status of others, so what exactly are the main concerns for online casino brands in the real-time climate?

1. The Increased Risk of Overseas Hacking

This is an issue that affects any website that handles financial transactions, even online casino platforms that benefit from 128-bit encryption.

The popular nature of online casinos makes them particularly viable targets for overseas hackers, however, who can use remote servers to launch stealth-like attacks and intercept personal data without detection. The development of new software (which has been required to handle increased numbers of players) also creates challenges, as these create loopholes that can be targeted and exploited by malicious DDoS attacks and strategic data theft schemes.

To negate this risk, operators are working hard to reinforce their military grade encryption, while there is also a growing trend of storing personal data in less accessible places. This is important, as it means that the privacy is not compromised even in the event of an attack or a website hack.

2. Undermining Game Integrity

Game integrity is a pivotal aspect of online casino gameplay, even in an age where there are so many iterations and variable titles available. After all, operators will suffer if their reputation is compromised by external influences such as cheating, accusations of bias or the use of underhand tactics.

Of course, software developers have strived hard to do their part, using advanced algorithms such as random number generators (RNGs) to underpin fair gameplay. Most sites also utilise data to monitor player behaviour and highlight any suspicious betting activity, which in turn protects players from unwanted, outside influences. Some providers even host games on separate servers, making it exceptionally hard for individuals to target them effectively.

More recently, casinos have also taken the progressive step of partnering with industry-leading cyber security firms, who have been given the sole brief of ring fencing individual gaming experiences.

3. Preventing Fraud and the Sustained Loss of Money

One of the key thing that binds online casinos and players is a shared dislike for losing money, and this helps to create a unified approach against cyber crime.

Preventing fraud and lost revenue is the area of security that has perhaps changed the most in recent times, thanks largely to the access that hackers now have to advanced software and hacking algorithms. These can be used to perform a number of tasks, from simulating human players to gain an unfair advantage and identifying prominent patterns to maliciously targeting individual transactions with malware.

The response of online casinos has been impressive, however, in the form of significant (and strategic) investment and the development of improved cyber resources for minimising the risk of fraud.

While the challenges facing casino operators are prominent and constantly evolving, it is fair to say the developers are ahead of the game when it comes to providing resolutions. This augers well for the future, but vigilance is required if virtual casinos are to safeguard the interest, data and hard-earned money of their players.