Getting the hang of cybersecurity in sweepstake casino software development
Jovan I. • Last updated on 20 December 2024
By 2029, it’s expected that the entire online gambling market will have over 281.3 million active players worldwide. Even now, sweepstakes casinos like Stake.us, Chumba casino, and others welcome millions of daily players, most of them from the US.
However, it’s not just sweepstakes enthusiasts that these platforms attract.
Online sweepstakes casinos are prime targets for cyberattacks. With hefty transactions occurring regularly, countless new users creating accounts daily and freely giving out their sensitive information, any cybercriminal would consider them goldmines. It’s up to casinos and software developers to keep their players well-protected.
The need for enhanced security at sweepstakes casinos
Most players are mainly concerned about suspicious or shady casino platforms, believing that they could only encounter issues on unregulated sites. While that’s a valid concern, even regulated sweepstakes casinos could endanger their players if they don’t take preventative measures to improve their cybersecurity.
After all, there are many reasons why legit casinos are a common target for cyberattacks:
- High cash flow – even sweepstakes casinos with the worst odds for players usually have high daily cash flows. Even a single glitch in the transactions could provide an opportunity for cybercriminals to expose a vulnerability and make an easy attack;
- Reluctance to take the casino offline – due to the aforementioned high cash flow, most sweepstakes casinos are reluctant to take their casino offline. Prolonged downtime could be expensive for any platform, meaning that the attacked casino would be more willing to comply with threats;
- Highly sensitive information – legit sweepstakes casinos typically require user verification (which can include player emails, address verification, phone number, government-issued documentation, etc). They also typically enable transactions via credit and debit cards, crypto wallets, and more. All this data is considered highly valuable for cybercriminals, so targeting sweepstakes casinos is often regarded as high-risk, high-reward;
- Expansive IT infrastructure – sweepstakes casinos have an expansive IT infrastructure, with a wide array of gaming software, diverse security systems, and more. Even simple things such as loyalty programs, bonus codes, and user verification tools have a whole set of software and systems behind them. All this means that the chances of finding and exposing a vulnerability are higher;
- Staff error – most online sweepstakes casinos employ dozens of individuals to overlook user accounts, monitor transactions, handle player complaints, and more. Many of them have access to most behind-the-scenes systems and highly sensitive information, so a simple error on their part can easily be exploited in a cyberattack.
These are just some of the reasons why sweepstakes and other online casinos are often considered prime targets for cyberattacks. And they are just some of the reasons why every platform in the online gambling industry needs to up the ante on its cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity threats sweepstakes casinos face
Although sweepstakes casinos are more at risk of cyberattacks than most sites and platforms, the most common types of threats they all face remain largely the same.
Like most platforms, sweepstakes casinos are vulnerable to phishing and ransomware, insider threats, and more. However, the following are typically much more common.
Data breaches
A data breach refers to cybercriminals gaining unauthorized access to sweepstakes casinos’ confidential information – including player information and their credit card numbers, employee information, etc.
DDoS
Distributed denial of service (DDOS) involves overwhelming the sweepstakes website with fake traffic, usually causing it to become slow and unresponsive for legitimate users. This attack can crash the systems and make it easy for cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Zero-day exploit
A zero-day exploit is a cyberattack that takes advantage of an unknown vulnerability within a system. It’s especially common when sweepstakes platforms launch brand-new casino games or start using tools and software that haven’t yet been thoroughly tested.
Third-party vulnerabilities
Sweepstakes casinos are especially vulnerable to third-party cybersecurity threats. Any third-party entity that has access to the casino’s systems and sensitive information – affiliate marketers, vendors, game providers, software developers, and others – could expose the casino to risks either through simple human error or through cybersecurity vulnerabilities of their own.
What secure software development involves in online casinos
While sweepstakes casinos themselves are required to implement advanced security practices, such as SSL encryption, KYC policies, and more, software developers bear a large chunk of the responsibility for ensuring casino and player safety.
Some of the best practices that need to be followed religiously include:
- Continual testing – vulnerability scanning, security testing, penetration testing and more need to be done regularly to ensure continued protection;
- Proper configuration management – secure configuration management such as adjusting network settings, configuring proper access controls, monitoring baseline settings, and more is essential for any new system or software introduced to sweepstakes casinos;
- Threat modeling – thoroughly analyzing the overall software architecture and assessing structural vulnerabilities, existence/nonexistence of safeguards, and other potential threats is the key to preventing cyberattacks from happening in the first place;
- Incident response management – in most instances, it’s not a question of “if” but rather “when” a system will be attacked. Having a thorough incident response ready before anything occurs can help minimize the damage and keep the casino and the players better protected;
- Real-time threat detection – having real-time threat detection in place can help curb cyberattacks and enable casinos to catch and stop them before they get out of hand.
Of course, in addition to these practices, keeping an eye on all systems and software and developing regular security patches and updates is always critical for all sweepstakes casinos.
The impact of security breaches at online casinos
Many online casinos have learned the hard way that cybersecurity should never be taken lightly. Here are some of the numerous cybersecurity breaches experienced by different casinos:
- Primedice – in 2014, a player known as Hufflepuff placed continual bets in a short amount of time and won 2,400 BTC (around $1 million). It was later discovered that the player exploited the casino’s provably fair system, overloading it with requests and thus causing a failure in the encryption that hid game results until after the game had been played;
- 888 Holdings – in 2017, cyberattackers exposed a vulnerability in 888 Holdings’ system and stole personal data from over 7 million users;
- DraftKings – in 2022, cybercriminals used credential stuffing attack (used stolen login credentials from real players) and withdrew over $300,000;
- William Hill – in 2016, a DDoS attack during the UEFA Champions League prevented players from accessing the casino. Evidently, William Hill suffered losses of over £4.4 million due to the attack.
Though many cyberattacks primarily result in financial losses, there are arguably much worse consequences. The damage done to the reputation of these casinos is immeasurable. Though most have recovered, there are still many players out there who refuse to join these platforms again for fear of something similar happening again.
What the future holds
For sweepstakes casinos to thrive in this changing cybersecurity landscape, they need to up the ante on preventative player protection. Some of the best practices will include:
- Real-time monitoring with AI – AI systems can detect and handle threats much faster than any human could. Real-time monitoring with AI will become a necessity for casinos that want to instill players with confidence;
- Focus on crypto games – while volatile, cryptocurrency is considered a much safer alternative to using digital wallets, credit cards, and other traditional forms of payment. Focusing on games players can join using crypto can help casinos improve security and minimize fraudulent transactions;
- Prioritizing prevention and threat response – the proactive approach has proven to be most useful in cybersecurity, so the focus will remain on attack prevention. However, more and more casinos will focus on developing comprehensive threat responses to minimize the damage in case preventative measures fail.
Over the coming years, we’re also bound to see regulatory authorities getting themselves further involved in cybersecurity and developing more comprehensive rules and regulations sweepstakes casinos need to follow.
Conclusion
With cybersecurity threats quickly evolving, players need to feel protected on all platforms, especially sweepstakes casinos that frequently require them to leave sensitive personal information.
If sweepstakes casinos want to retain their player base and attract new users, they must prioritize proper cybersecurity practices and do all in their power to instill the utmost confidence in all site visitors.
