CYBERSECURITY Trust at the core of iGaming


In the iGaming industry, trust is everything - not just for players, but for the entire ecosystem of operators, suppliers, and technology providers. Players expect seamless experiences, secure transactions, and confidence that their personal data is protected. At the same time, suppliers and platform partners demand robust cybersecurity standards and transparent risk management to safeguard their own systems and reputations, as Patrick Gardner, Chief Security Officer, Continent 8 Technologies explains.


s the iGaming sector grows - driven by new markets, mobile-first platforms, and real-time betting - the attack surface expands exponentially. Cybercriminals have noticed. From ransomware groups to phishing campaigns, the industry is now a prime target for sophisticated attacks that exploit both technology and human behaviour.


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THE STATE OF PLAY: RISING THREATS AND ESCALATING COSTS


Recent analysis shows a 400 per cent surge in cyber incidents impacting casino operators and gambling businesses since early 2025. The cost of downtime during a major sporting event can exceed $6,000 per minute, and phishing attacks have grown by 180 per cent since 2023. These numbers underscore a stark reality: the iGaming ecosystem is under siege.


The past year has been a wake-up call for the industry. In July 2025, Flutter Entertainment, owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, confirmed a breach affecting up to 800,000 users, exposing personal data such as IP addresses and betting activity. In March, Merkur Group, a major European casino operator, suffered a catastrophic incident that compromised sensitive data across multiple platforms, including payment details, identity verification documents, and over 70,000 ID scans, all due to misconfigured backend interfaces. Beyond data theft, account takeover attacks surged by 42 per cent in Q1 2025, with one European betting platform losing €1.7 million in just 48 hours before detection. These examples illustrate a clear trend: attackers are exploiting both technical


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vulnerabilities and human factors, and the financial and reputational stakes have never been higher.


Why is the industry a target? Because it offers two things that attackers value most - money and data. Every payment gateway, affiliate integration, and game studio aggregation introduces new vulnerabilities. Add to this the complexity of real-time transaction engines, regulatory reporting systems, and third-party content providers, and you have an environment where a single weak link can compromise the entire chain. Now that I have set the scene, here’s what I believe will shape cybersecurity in iGaming in 2026.


PREDICTION 1: AI WILL RESHAPE BOTH ATTACK AND DEFENCE Artificial intelligence (AI) is the double- edged sword of cybersecurity. In 2026, expect AI-driven attacks - deepfakes, automated intrusions, and identity-centric exploits – to become mainstream. On the defensive side, AI will power advanced threat hunting, anomaly detection,


Threat Exchange is the industry’s first dedicated cyber threat intelligence (CTI) platform


and predictive analytics. Operators will deploy machine learning models to identify fraudulent transactions in real time and detect behavioural anomalies before they escalate. But securing AI itself will be critical as attackers are already targeting AI systems to turn them into insider threats.


PREDICTION 2: CYBERSECURITY BECOMES A CORE BUSINESS METRIC


Cybersecurity will move from being a compliance checkbox to a strategic KPI. This is a welcome shift for the industry. Regulators are demanding real-time, machine-readable compliance data, while players increasingly view security as part of the user experience. Seamless onboarding, frictionless withdrawals, and transparent data handling will become loyalty drivers.


PREDICTION 3: COLLECTIVE DEFENCE THROUGH INTELLIGENCE SHARING The complexity of today’s threat landscape means no single operator can fight alone.


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