Pulse
CYBERSECURITY MIRACL
MIRACL: Reconcile user experience with cybersecurity
Cybersecurity and user experience have always been at odds. As attack rates soar, businesses have been forced to bolt on additional hurdles that users trying to log in have to surmount. Regulators’ growing demands that customers and their data are subject to adequate security and controls have meant that the status-quo of a defunct password is not an option, despite the impact to ease of use.
Moreover, for industries that are rooted in the need to entertain their customers - such as online gaming - speed and accessibility are all- important. To date, security solutions have therefore left these industries with a real problem that threatens the profitability, and even viability of their business. Tey need a simple, secure authentication technology.
Online gaming has enjoyed a remarkable surge in recent years. Te loneliness, boredom and hopelessness of the COVID-19 lockdown encouraged many to turn to gaming for companionship, entertainment and escapism. In March of 2020, Verizon revealed that online gaming traffic increased a staggering 75 per cent at the outbreak of COVID-19. So great was the pandemic’s impact that experts touted it as the mark of a new era for the industry.
However, as the old adage goes - more money, more problems. Just as online gaming established itself as the heir-apparent to the light entertainment throne, so too did it emerge as a favourite target for cybercriminals. In fact, research published in 2021 revealed that the gaming industry saw a more significant increase in cyberattacks than any other industry throughout the pandemic.
Te success of online gaming is reliant on three principles: Speed, impulsiveness and fun. Security controls, especially consumer facing protocols such as authentication, can dilute these principles, acting as a barrier to optimal user experience. As competition within the sector heats up, it’s understandable that game providers aren’t willing to increase their time- to-game, or time-to-bet, by even a second.
Rob Griffin, CEO, MIRACL
Up until recently, the conflict between security and user experience has been largely internal and heavily mismatched. Imagine a tired looking CISO appealing to the board for more stringent authentication, only to be shot down due to performance impacts for a fairly accurate picture. But in July of this year, for New Jersey gaming platforms at least, things changed.
Te New Jersey legislature announced earlier this year that it was introducing new betting regulations mandating the use of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for online gambling. For the first time, online gambling platforms were forced to put security first.
Before the security geeks get too excited, it’s worth pointing out that these regulations weren’t necessarily brought in to bolster the security of online gambling platforms. Sure, that was a secondary outcome, but it was really the problem of “messenger betting” that spurred legal action.
Messenger betting is when a secondary person places a bet in a legal jurisdiction under someone else’s account. Te practice is a breach of both US Federal and New Jersey State law - but that doesn’t stop people from trying.
In 2020, Larry Porter placed a $3m bet on a three-leg parlay from his home in New Jersey on behalf of his friend Eric Stevens, a DraftKings VIP customer living in Jacksonville. Te bet was simple enough: should Georgia, Alabama, and the Green Bay Packers win their respective divisions, Stevens would take home $5.5m.
Two weeks later, Stevens notices something strange. His account is frozen. DraftKings had figured out what he was up to and pulled him up on it. We’ve established that messenger betting violates state and federal law, but we should also note that it’s a breach of DraftKings’ company policy. Te twist? DraftKings knowingly allowed Stevens to messenger bet from their suite at the 2020 SuperBowl in Florida.
Long story short, the bet was terminated and DraftKings slapped with a $150,000 fine, which was widely criticised for being too low and “sending the wrong message”. However, the debacle had huge ramifications for the online gaming industry, ushering in the aforementioned MFA and 2FA regulations.
It’s important to remember here that New Jersey is the online gambling destination in the United States. While regulations introduced in a single
Up until recently, the conflict between security and user experience has been largely internal and heavily
mismatched. Imagine a tired looking CISO appealing to the board for more stringent
authentication, only to be shot down due to performance impacts for a fairly accurate
picture. But in July of this year, for New Jersey gaming
platforms at least, things changed.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P87
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