Online casinos make up one of the internet’s most thriving sectors, generating revenue upwards of $66.7 billion in 2020 which is expected to rise to $94.37 billion by 2025. The abundance of sites means that it is easy for players to find somewhere to play, however, the booming market is also tantalizingly attractive to hackers. For this reason, players need to be extra careful and ensure that they are playing at a safe, reputable site.
Hackers Target Weaker Sites
Online casinos are intricate websites made up of various elements. There are numerous game pages along with payment screens and chat boxes, meaning that there are many more mechanizations occurring there than on a standard site. This complexity and detail is what makes the sites so appealing to players, but it can also mean that there are weak points for hackers to target. The cybercriminal is like a caged prisoner tapping on the bricks, looking for the one that moves. Once that has come loose, the whole wall will fall down.
Hackers much prefer to target weaker sites rather than well-established giants in the industry, as they are more likely to have less refined defenses. The best sites on the market have up-to-date, advanced systems in place to protect their clients’ data. This includes HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) encryption and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) end-to-end encryption. These are some of the basic things that players need to watch out for when choosing a gambling site. If it doesn’t have these things in place, then the site could be at risk of a data breach.
Protection of Data
Before filling out any personal information or crediting a gambling account with funds, players need to look at the website to examine how serious it is about data protection. The well-established sites with the best security protocols in place will have a vast amount of detailed information to show players that they can be trusted with sensitive data.
A good example of this is seen at Royal Panda, an online casino run by the LeoVegas Mobile Gaming Group. The site has a comprehensive privacy notice that tells customers everything they need to know about how the site deals with their information. It details the methods of data collection, the information sent to third parties, the use of cookies, the information collected on the player, and a number of other points. Having all this as a reference, players can feel comfortable in the knowledge that the site is legitimate and trustworthy.
Look Out for Gaming Licenses
Another way to ensure that an online casino is regulated and safe to play at is to make sure it has the correct gaming licenses. This information can usually be found at the bottom of each page of the site in the small print. The Malta Gaming Authority is one of the most commonly found governing bodies of online casinos, and players can trust that sites with this name on them are safe to play at.
It also makes sense to check that an online casino has an efficient and accessible customer service team so that they are on hand to deal with any issues that may arise. This adds a personal touch to the site and makes players feel safer.
According to research, data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first half of 2019. Everyone needs to be aware of the risks of keying in personal data online, but by visiting the right sites people can minimize the chances of a data breach happening to them.