Solid financial awareness will help you stay safe online, regardless of the site, platform, device or apps you use. Online casinos are one of the best examples of an industry that has refined its service to provide a solid, all-around, secure package. By combining the highest encryption levels with 24/7 security systems that can detect cyber-attacks, the casino industry prides itself on consistently delivering a secure and easy service.
By working together with some of the most prominent names in finance to detect suspicious financial activity, casino websites are simultaneously the most targeted and some of the safest online platforms you can find. While there have been isolated cases of prominent casinos having their systems breached, the main components of risk that apply to the individual casino gamer stem from their own behaviour rather than the systems of the casino they use.
Add an extra layer of financial protection
When you sign in to your online banking, we strongly advise using two-factor authentication (2FA), which means that you receive a text message or code to a trusted phone number or email. As it works in conjunction with your password and will register to your trusted device, it adds an extra layer of security. It is challenging for anybody to gain illicit access unless they have access to all your devices, which is highly unlikely.
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SubscribeAnother way to add another layer of protection is to use e-wallets, such as PayPal, Neteller or Paysafe. E-wallets will sync to your device and allow you to use your email or unique ID to make purchases online. This removes your bank or card information from the servers, so if a provider is a victim of a cyber-attack, criminals can’t use the card details they’ve obtained from the server.
The only information stored is related to your email or ID – or, in Paysafe’s case, a code that becomes redundant after using the funds. Unfortunately, due to the level of profit that casinos generate and the sheer amount of sensitive financial data they hold, they are a target for hacking groups and cyber criminals. If you play using Paysafe, all you need to link to your account is the code you use; you don’t have to remember anything else.
Don’t use the same passwords
This advice applies to all of your logins – you should always mix up your passwords and change them regularly. A lot of the technology we use today will assist us in this; you can set up strong passwords and save them to your password bank, which is encrypted on your phone or device, behind the same levels of security we’ve just discussed.
Our digital devices are now a constant presence in our lives; using them for payments is just the latest in a long line of incredible innovations. Less is becoming more – e-wallets allow us to have all our payment information on our phones and use our mobiles as secure payment devices.
Therefore, there’s an added onus on using passwords that are difficult to guess and aren’t memorable words that cybercriminals would be able to associate with you. Unfortunately, many people still provide passwords and sensitive financial information to hackers, so it is vital to never give your password to anybody, ever. If somebody ever calls and asks you for it, put the phone down immediately, and do not disclose any information to them. Another good tip is to be careful about the public Wi-Fi you access, as it can also be a key target for cybercriminals.
Casino safety – licensing and brand visibility
Ensuring you’re using a reputable casino provider is the first step to take when ensuring your safety while gambling online. Although smaller casinos shouldn’t have any issues and have to face the same levels of security testing and legislative compliance as the prominent names, they can be a target for cybercriminals because they deal with smaller profit margins. Therefore, they have less funds to spend on ensuring their site’s 24/7 maintenance and security, and they’ll have fewer employees within the organization.
Again, this doesn’t automatically mean that your data is unsafe with them – far from it – but some bettors will opt for casinos they know or that they’ve heard of, as they have more of a market presence and visible brand name.
Other than searching for a casino online to see if it has been impacted by a breach in the past, which is a method we’d recommend, the best way to check if a casino isn’t cutting a corner is to simply check its licensing agreement and where it’s based.
For instance, you want to use a casino in the UK that is registered to operate legally by the UK Gambling Commission. If you find an online casino that you haven’t heard of before and they’re only registered in Curaçao or Malta, then do a bit more digging to ensure your data remains safe and that the website and company are operating in good faith.
Responsible gambling
It’s also advisable to set up time and deposit limits to ensure you remain within the parameters of safe gambling. This ensures your gambling remains responsible, but if you believe you’re exceeding time and deposit limits, and putting yourself under financial and emotional stress, then you should seek out the services of a specialist or organization that can help you stop gambling altogether.
Online casinos are quickly becoming a trillion-dollar business, and they wouldn’t be able to grow exponentially without watertight security and procedures. While there have been odd cases of casinos being breached, the vast majority use encryption identical to that of some of the world’s most prominent financial institutions and banks.
Ensuring secure payments mainly involves using a legitimate site and a provider that isn’t phishing for information. Casinos also undergo a stringent process to ensure that the payment systems on their platform are as secure as possible.
While some gamers are less inclined to use newer payment methods – such as e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill – these are colossal fintech companies. They have more customers and handle more transactions than some banks in the UK and can be trusted to keep your information secure.
