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Growing threat of cyber extortionists on Internet casinos

How few online casinos are using new defense tactics to stay in the business

Wednesday 4th February 2004

With more than 1,800 online casinos, millions of customers around the world and millions of dollars being wagered each day website security can not remained ignored.

Computer network security companies like Riverhead Networks are tuning into the market of casino-specific online security. Riverhead is already one of the leading providers of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) solutions.

Because of efforts from companies like Riverhead, many online casinos were unaffected by the rash of attacks aimed at online gambling sites during the busiest time of the year: Super Bowl weekend.

While some online sportsbooks, went offline, unable to cope with data streamed at them at 200 megabits per second protected sites denied the denial of service attackers. Riverhead claims its customers had uninterrupted service throughout the game period.

According to Riverhead because the stakes are so high both for the websites and online gamblers, the target is attractive for extortionists—since they know no one can afford any downtime.

Typically DDOS solutions identify and filtering out malicious Internet traffic from unrecognized hosts or ISPs and provides website availability for legitimate users or customers. Riverhead’s technology automatically blocks attack packets and forwards real customer transactions, without relying on other network devices.




Source: OnlineCasinoNews