Security Measures Online Casinos Have Implemented in Recent Years

There’s no doubt that the growing popularity of mobile gaming has changed the gambling industry, enabling online casinos to offer convenient access to a wide variety of games from virtually anywhere. While this convenience is widely appreciated, it also presents a number of significant challenges.

The rise in online gambling has intensified the need for robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard user data and ensure fair play. Beyond the threat of cybercriminals targeting personal information, casinos must also maintain player trust by ensuring that game outcomes are not manipulated.

Casinos themselves face considerable risks. As they handle large volumes of sensitive customer data, they must continually adapt to emerging digital threats. A data breach could lead to financial losses, regulatory penalties, and a decline in player confidence. These challenges have driven ongoing investment in digital security to protect players and support the continued growth of the iGaming sector.

Why Security Matters More Than Ever

As mentioned, the need for robust security measures on online casinos is as a result of the remarkable growth which the sector is currently experiencing. According to research by Statista, the global market is projected to reach approximately $449.69 billion in 2025, reflecting a significant surge in smartphone adoption. In my experience, as the industry expands, so do the risks

I know I don’t have to worry about the security of my personal information leaking from any of the casinos I play at because I performed a detailed review of the platform to see if there are any security measures that they seem to be lacking. On average, a data breach costs about $4.88 million, which shows why security measures are necessary to protect both customer and company funds.

Cyberattacks are not a myth and with the level of advancement in the sector, you would think hackers should be having a hard time getting at big companies in the iGaming industry. That isn’t always the case. For instance, International Game Technology (IGT) suffered a cyberattack in November 2024. If a leading gambling tech vendor like IGT can be a victim of an attack that forces all systems offline, any casino that isn’t implementing security tools might as well publish user information on a public database.

IGT’s incident was not a standalone one but part of a bigger trend. A survey I came across released by the UK Department of Culture, Media, and Sport revealed that 55% of UK gambling businesses experienced a cyber incident within the previous 12 months. If more than half of a sector has a recurring issue, it’s more than enough reason to take cybersecurity more seriously than ever.

Advanced Encryption Technologies

Moving on to the various ways by which online casinos have been responding with innovative solutions to cyberthreats, I will be kicking off with encryption technologies. 

AES-256

Early encryption methods, such as Data Encryption Standard (DES) developed in the 1970s used a 56-bit key, which worked for a while. As modern technology continued to grow, it became very easy to crack 56-bit keys in a matter of hours. This vulnerability led to the development of Advanced Encryption Standard by NIST, offering websites a higher security with larger key sizes along the range of 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit.

The 256, refers to the key size in bits. A larger key size is less vulnerable to brute force attacks, where hackers try every possible combination of key phrases to get into a site’s database. To crack a 256-bit key you would need to try 2^256 different combinations, something quite impossible with current technology. 

AES-256 encryption is very popular among online casino brands. It basically encrypts sensitive data into an unreadable format that can only be decrypted with the correct key. It is only concerned with data at rest, or in layman terms data stored on casino servers such as payment details and the likes. AES-256 is a fascinating piece of cybersecurity technology, because even if the server is compromised, your information remains unreadable to third parties.

Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security (TSL) is the successor to Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and is commonly used to secure the confidentiality of information shared between a player and the online casino. You might be wondering what difference it makes when AES-256 already exists. What I found was that both systems work hand in hand. TLS protects data in transit, while AES protects data stored on servers.

The next time you are about to fill an online casino registration form, keep in mind that TLS is what protects your information from tampering and interception. When you visit a casino site secured with Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, TLS is in place to secure the transfer of your payment details during deposits and withdrawals and AES-256 bit is used to encrypt the payment details you decide to store on the database.

This isn’t to say that all online casinos make use of these advanced levels of encryption, and that is why it is always advisable to read detailed reviews of online casinos to find out what level of security they have implemented. You will find that the best ones have advanced encryption systems in place because they care about your information.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Biometric Logins

AES and TLS are security measures that aren’t all that visible unless you are actively searching for their presence. Two-factor authentication (2FA) and biometric logins, on the other hand, require you to be a part of the effort put in place to protect your casino account. 2FA has been in place for years now and it typically requires you to input your account password and a secondary method like a code sent to your phone or email.

Casinos have advanced further to use biometrics such as fingerprint scanners and facial recognition to secure user accounts. I have come across top online casinos apps that have the biometric feature and I can say it is one of the easiest ways to log into my account. I am even getting accustomed to activating it for my mobile banking platforms. It comes combined with ease and safety. 

Personally, I would choose biometrics over one time passwords. Both methods are very secure and 2FA does pretty well to ensure that even if your password gets leaked, no one can gain access to your casino account without a second method of verification. Biometric logins are almost impossible to break through as you would need the most sophisticated technology to replicate a person’s fingerprints or facial patterns. 

AI and Machine Learning for Fraud Detection

It is undeniable that Artificial Intelligence is gaining massive adoption. Online casinos are also making use of AI tools to spot unusual activities that might signal fraud, like money laundering or cheating. It will look for sudden big bets or logins from strange places, and check transactions in real-time to catch suspicious activities like large deposits that don’t fit a player’s usual behaviour.

All of this used to require manual effort where the casino officials checked to see if any account seemed to be laundering money with the pretence of gambling. The process was time consuming and if you had your account hacked, you would most likely have had harm done before you could report any issue manually. AI works in real-time to quickly stop fraud and make sure players’ money and info remain safe.

Asides the fact that AI can protect you from fraudulent acts by taking note of historical data of your gambling habit, it also protects the casino from losing profit. Device fingerprinting is how they do this. Casinos that make use of AI for device fingerprinting can see if a single device is associated with multiple accounts and ban them. Players that make use of multiple accounts usually use it to exploit bonuses.

Blockchain For Provably Fair Gaming

Some online casinos have also adopted blockchain, primarily due to its decentralised ledger system. Blockchain can record transactions across multiple computers, making them completely transparent, cryptocurrencies make use of this technology and the growth in that sector is massive. To replicate that growth and trust which users have in crypto, online casinos now allow players to independently verify every bet, win, and payout.

Crypto casinos that have adopted this method are seeing a lot more player traffic than others. Players seem to love the ability to verify the fairness of game outcomes and the randomness of game results such as slot spins and card deals.

Final Thoughts

Online casinos have risen to the security challenges posed by the massive expansion in the iGaming industry. They have chosen to adopt advanced technologies such as AES-256 encryption and Transport Layer Security to protect our data from third parties. Added features like 2FA and biometric login has also helped create a sense of account security. With the increasing use of AI for fraud detection and blockchain for provably fair gaming, the risk of cyber-attacks has reduced significantly.

Iria Mon is a dedicated online casino expert and author with over a decade of experience in the gambling industry. She specialises in in-depth casino reviews, delivering high-quality content and trusted analysis of gambling platforms.