Close interaction between gaming companies, sharing important assets and data, is a key part of any successful iGaming operation. But, as with any exchange, there is always a level of risk involved due to varying levels of data quality and security. In the worst cases, this can result in security breaches and unreliable data assets.
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer for Continent 8 Technologies, believes they have come up with the perfect solution for this issue with their new Gaming Exchange. We caught up with Justin to hear more about this breakthrough and learn what impact it will have on the future of the iGaming industry.
Can you tell us a little more about the Gaming Exchange and how it came about?
“The Gaming Exchange is a powerful private Internet and exclusive community exchange for iGaming businesses. It allows them to connect faster and more securely than via the standard Internet, with no need for additional configuration. It means Continent 8 customers can connect directly to other Continent 8 customers via an MPLS Layer 3 VPN across our private backbone network rather than route over the public Internet.
“It offers the lowest latency and the highest levels of performance, guaranteed with both local and remote reachability. What’s more, it is private and reliable with public IPv4 addressing and an uptime rate in excess of 99.9 per cent.
“At Continent 8 we know that iGaming companies are constantly talking to each other over the Internet, so we wanted to provide our customers with the ability to do this via a private, highly secure and ultra-fast network. Ultimately, we develop innovations such as this to ensure that we not only meet but exceed customer expectations and that is why we are the leading provider of managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to iGaming businesses around the world.”
What challenges does it overcome and what benefits does it provide to those who use it?
“One challenge is that customers have no simple visibility of their traffic flow from a B2B or partner perspective. The Gaming Exchange enables this via the Premium Portal. This portal shows customer traffic flows within and outside of Continent 8.
“Another huge challenge right now is the risk of cyber attacks – our own stats from our DDoS platform highlight that the industry is heavily targeted, and all businesses should be prepared for an attack. A significant benefit of the Gaming Exchange is that it is a private Internet and therefore not attackable externally.”
Through the Gaming Exchange, Continent 8 customers have access to a Premium Portal. Can you explain what this is?
“Our customer portal is one of our unique selling points as it provides our customers with access to all of the key metrics, stats and data for the services that we provide to them. The Premium Portal is an extension of this, and is available to all customers who join the Gaming Exchange. It is an analytical dashboard that allows users to view and monitor traffic flows within and outside of Continent 8 to other gaming partners. This includes a dynamic map overview for all connectivity between sites and data flows and direction of traffic.
“This information can support customers in identifying better or more efficient connectivity service use or even identifying unexpected data flows to unknown destinations. Examples would be moving from public Internet traffic use to private Cloud Connect or MPLS services dedicated to connecting customers to partners or hyperscale cloud implementations.”
You say it delivers “unrivalled levels of security” – how is this achieved?
“The online gambling industry is one of the most attacked and the level of security we can provide to our customers via the Gaming Exchange is frankly unrivalled. Because it is a private Internet, it is not attackable externally, so the risk of a DDoS attack is fully-mitigated and it is fully protected by Continent 8.”
What are the main security threats operators and suppliers currently face? How can these threats be mitigated?
“Operators and suppliers face a wide range of cybersecurity threats with the scale, scope and sophistication of attacks increasing significantly over the past 12 months. The types of attack include credential stuffing and phishing, as well as DDoS and ransomware. The industry’s use of third-party providers also makes operators and suppliers even more vulnerable as they can be subject to attacks against their own systems in the event that a third-party provider is compromised.
“The only way to successfully mitigate the risk of falling victim to a cyber attack is to take a multi-layered approach to security. The first step should be to identify your ‘crown jewels’ and to ensure they are appropriately protected. Protection should cover the data, endpoints, applications and network layers of your business to protect against the different types of threats. The defences, such as DDoS, WAAP, SIEM/SOC and EDR/MDR, operate together to protect an organisation.”
In addition to the Gaming Exchange, what other exciting products and solutions do you have in the pipeline?
“It is an incredibly busy time for Continent 8, not only with new sites and locations being added to our connected global network on an almost monthly basis, but in terms of product development too. One particular area of focus has been the Cloud, and growing our public, private and hyperscale solutions. We have been especially busy in the North American market where we are now live in 24 states and where we are taking a first-to-market approach. We have recently debuted our regulated Gaming Cloud in Pennsylvania, with additional connectivity launches set for Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina and South Dakota in the coming months.”
Editors’ Note:
After speaking with Justin, it’s abundantly clear that the need for a product like this is more important than ever.
Operators and suppliers face a wide range of cybersecurity threats with the scale, scope and sophistication of attacks increasing dramatically over the past 12 months. With so much valuable assets and data being transferred on a regular basis, The Gaming Exchange provides the perfect environment to facilitate these digital relationships and ensures gaming companies can grow with confidence and increased efficiency – nothing but good for the iGaming market.