The advent of online casinos into the gambling industry came with a unique blend of excitement and challenges. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the average fraud rate for betting and gambling companies increased from 4.2% to 7.6%— a whopping 80% increase.
In a bid to create a more secure platform, the added identity verification process can negatively impact customer experience. But there are several real money online casinos with no deposit free chips for existing players that struck a perfect balance ensuring ultimate players’ safety and experience. So, keep reading to learn more about casino security.
Why Is Online Casino Security Important?
Many online casino operators often ask themselves the critical question of how to improve their security measures without affecting their player’s experience. So, don’t be surprised that one important topic that keeps coming up throughout digital casino history is security.
Gambling operators know that the exchange of money and personal information makes the industry a lucrative target for cybercriminals. Without proper security measures in place, players and casino operators are at risk, such as:
- Players’ payment information theft;
- Identity theft;
- Unfair or rigged games;
- Authorizing invalid transactions, etc.
The Negative Impact of Enhanced Security on Customer Experience
When an online casino has very rigid security measures, it takes several precautionary steps to verify that you own an account. For example, apart from entering a unique password, you may be asked to enter an OTP sent to your mobile number or email and answer several security questions.
While these security measures are great as they offer several roadblocks to anyone trying to hack your account, if they inadvertently lay their hands on your login details, having so many stages to log into your online casino account can hurt customer’s experience.
Passing through several stages to log into an online casino app or web service takes more of a player’s valuable time. As such, many players may get frustrated by it and eventually quit using the platform in total. Not to mention that players are likely to forget answers to some of the security steps, thus locking them out of their accounts.
The Common Security Threats Casinos Face
Any great online casino website with an impressive bonus, massive game library, user-friendly interface, and so on will get massive visits from players daily. As a result, the best online casinos are the ones cybercriminals are most lured to attack. Cybercriminals use several tricks to try to take advantage of these platforms. Some of these tricks include but not limited to:
| Security Threats | How It Works |
| Physical security breaches | An online casino can function by storing its data on a server. Cybercriminals can attempt to get control over the platform by physically planting a mole in the server. |
| Online attacks | Cybercriminals can launch attacks remotely through several means, such as phishing, malware attacks, DNS Spoofing, IoT-Based attacks, etc. |
| Identity theft | Identity theft is another common attack where a cybercriminal claims to be someone else in other to gain control over the said person’s account. |
| Money laundering | Money laundering is quite common amongst cybercriminals as they use it as a means to clean money from dirty deals such as human trafficking, sales of drugs, thefts, and so on. |
Balancing Casino Security and Customer Experience
To summarize, being too extreme regarding security measures can impact customer experience. Not having sufficient security measures can be equally detrimental. Striking the perfect balance is optimal when it comes to security measures and customer experience.
Several factors come into play when an online casino is trying to achieve the perfect balance between security measures and customer experience. Factors include the jurisdiction of the casino and how tech-savvy the players are, amongst others.
Below, we listed several strategies online casinos put in place to ensure a balance between their security measures and customer experience.
Make Its Servers Ironclad and Secure
The first and most important tip for every casino operator is that it needs to secure its servers. While most casino operators have their servers, some operators still have servers managed by third parties. Whatever the case may be, it’s critical to ensure its servers are well-secured from cyber and physical attacks. The casino operator should ensure that all personnel working closely with the servers are vetted.
Also, the casino operator should ensure every server security update or maintenance does not cause any downtime on its platform. And if there is an anticipated downtime, all its players should be aware of it ahead of time. More importantly, the downtime should not be too long so as not to cause panic or customer displeasure.
Mandating KYC
Another trick online casino operators can use to ensure their platforms are safe is mandating KYC. When an online casino operator knows their customer, it helps them understand the kind of services they offer. However, getting to know your customers is a process, and operators should not overbear players by providing information.
For example, operators can streamline the process during registration, so players provide very little information. So, when such a customer wants to make a withdrawal, operators can mandate the customer to provide further information, like proof of address and identity.
Close Transaction Monitoring
Monitoring players’ transactions is another way casino operators can keep their platforms safe. Some cybercriminals are notorious for using online casinos as a money laundering platform to clean dirty money. Very commonly, such cyber criminals make high deposits, wager on one or more games with an insignificant amount, and want to withdraw all the funds.
To combat this, most casino operators have in their T&C an anti-money laundering policy that limits players from making withdrawals without making wagers equivalent to the withdrawal amount requested. For example, if a player has not made a wager worth C$1000, such a player may not be eligible to make a withdrawal up to C$1000.
Prioritize Employee Cybersecurity Training
Casino operators’ employees are critical in ensuring an online casino is secure. To make the platform user-friendly and easily accessible, casino operators educate their employees on several cybersecurity threats. Also, the employees are educated on what to do in case of a cybersecurity threat.
Online casino employees are also encouraged to educate players on the different ways to keep their accounts safe. And in case of a security breach, how can they protect themselves from losing their funds?
Conclusion
It is possible to balance creating a secure platform without ruining players’ experience. A great online casino platform always prioritizes its user experience. But at the same time, it ensures it is as secure as possible without going overboard with security steps. But how much security measure is too much is very subjective as the needs of players vary.
As such, some online casinos give players the full option to choose the level of security they want on their account. For example, if you’re the type of player who prefers a two-factor authentication on your account, you can always turn the option on from your profile. So, when choosing an online casino, ensure you take into consideration everything said so far in this article to be on the safer side.
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