The Digital Evolution of Gambling

The gambling industry is evolving from a physical location experience into an electronic, mobile form of entertainment. Gamblers do not have to travel to casinos or crowded sports complexes.  Gambling is now a mainstream digital pastime. Many have adopted gambling as a hobby or interest across all age groups. Technical advancements have made friendly competition like March Madness and Fantasy Football even more sophisticated. With new technologies, legal updates, and changes in consumer behavior, gambling is a new pastime that is tremendously easy to access.

Let’s explore the gambling world from basics to recent developments that impact its growth and the scope of the industry

What is considered a part of the gambling industry?

Pursuits such as sports betting, online casino games (like poker, slots, blackjack), lotteries, scratch cards, racing, and eSports wagering through traditional venues and expanding online platforms.

What impacted the growth of the gambling industry?

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) prevented states from legalizing sports betting in almost all states in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court did away with PASPA in 2018, and 35 states legalized sports betting. Legal gambling also skyrocketed with the development of mobile platforms. You’ve seen ads from DraftKings, Bet 365, and FanDuel. With easy access and instant payouts on 5G, we’ve seen explosive use of digital gambling. 70% of all online wagers were placed on smartphones in 2024. Gambling is easier to do and faster to reap rewards.

The global market has grown to $711 billion (Statista, 2024) and is projected to exceed $876 billion by 2027 (Grand View Research, 2024). Online gambling alone is experiencing a 25% year-over-year growth, especially around major global sporting events like the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, and the Olympics.

During Super Bowl LVIII in 2024, U.S. gamblers wagered an estimated $16 billion, a more than 100% increase from 2022. Much of this occurred via apps, with an increasing number of users preferring crypto transactions for their speed and anonymity (Business Research Company, 2024).

Gambling is now more widespread, not just once in a while. Its popularity has expanded due to highly visible sports teams, top athletes on podcasts, streaming, and social media. We see many high-profile personalities endorsing online betting, featuring gambling as more accepted and in demand.

This surge in popularity also brings about an increase in cybersecurity risk.

The Stakes are High 

As platforms become more connected, so do the threats they face. There has been a rise in mobile betting apps, cloud-native gambling platforms, and cryptocurrency-based casinos. The gambling sector is a big target for cybercriminals due to the constant flow of money through digital transactions, sensitive personal data, and real-time payouts. The attack surface is growing, and the risks extend beyond businesses.  Your clients or individual users may have thousands of dollars linked to gambling wallets or accounts.

We have seen a number of cyberattacks such as the DraftKings 2022 data breach, in which credential stuffing was used to steal $300,000 from compromised user accounts. Social engineering was used to gain access to administrative tools in the 2023 MGM data breach that shut down casino systems that used LinkedIn data to impersonate staff. As businesses benefit from online tools for gambling so do hackers. Unsecured Wi-Fi enables Man-in-the-Middle (MiTM) attacks. Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps cheat systems by predicting outcomes or exploiting gaming systems.

How do you play it safe?

With the risks involved in this industry, gambling businesses are regulated. Organizations have the continual responsibility to be in compliance according to specific regulatory requirements.

What Security Solutions Help Safeguard the Gambling Industry?

Gambling compliance regulations help ensure that player data, gaming systems, and financial transactions align with regulatory and security standards. Online casinos, sports betting apps, and interactive gaming platforms continue to grow at a rapid pace, presenting new attack surfaces for sensitive information, payment data, and operational technology (OT) systems. Learn more on how you can proactively secure your casino, sportsbook, or online platform.

PCI Compliance for Gambling and Gaming Operators

As gambling and gaming services process millions of credit and debit card transactions, it is essential to stay PCI DSS compliant. Learn about your PCI compliance standing and confirm your cardholder data environment (CDE) is secured. Understand new password requirements, targeted risk analysis (TRA), training, automation, and scanning mandates. HALOCK helps you become PCI compliant, maintain your compliance status, and identify other regulatory requirements for gaming and wagering transactions.

Risk Management Program (RMP)

The volume and sophistication of cybersecurity threats in the gambling industry require you to budget your security dollars wisely to achieve maximum protection with minimal downtime. Our security experts can help you prioritize and optimize security investments while remaining in compliance with regulations. A risk management program offers continuous monitoring and visibility into your risk posture, improving your safeguards, managing your risks, and defining a reasonable level of security across your organization.

Penetration Testing, Offensive Security, or Red Teaming

Casino and gambling platforms, like many other industries, evolve quickly, and many companies use third-party software, open APIs, and cloud-based systems for marketing, operations, and payments. HALOCK penetration testing services can pinpoint vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them. Whether you’re launching an online betting site, adding systems after an acquisition, or expanding your digital presence, you must validate that your systems can protect sensitive player data and financial transactions. Test your security posture with Adversary Simulation or Assumed Breach exercises and confirm vulnerabilities are remediated with follow-up testing.

Risk-Based Threat Assessment

You can enhance your defenses against top threats such as ransomware, phishing and account takeovers. With a risk-based threat assessment, you can prioritize your security controls using the latest threat intelligence from government and industry sources. HALOCK’s Industry Threat (HIT) Index helps you estimate the most likely (and least likely) methods that might be used to target your organization so you can focus your investments where they have the greatest impact.

Cloud Security Assessment

Gambling and gaming platforms often rely on cloud infrastructure for their scalability and availability. HALOCK’s Cloud Security Assessment delivers clear visibility into your Azure, AWS or Google (GCP) cloud environment, surfacing misconfigurations and potential risk. We provide actionable recommendations so you can strengthen your security controls and protect sensitive data across distributed systems.

Incident Response for Gambling and Casinos

In the event of a breach or cyberattack, HALOCK helps you respond swiftly and effectively. Our Incident Response services and Incident Readiness programs minimize damage, restore operations, and pinpoint root causes. From tabletop exercises to compromise assessments and 24×7 Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, HALOCK prepares your team to detect and respond to threats before they cause major damage. Gaming regulators and cyber insurance providers increasingly require a written Incident Response Plan (IRP). HALOCK can help you create and maintain one.

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) – Due Diligence

Cybersecurity due diligence is essential as the casino, gaming software, and betting industries continue to consolidate. HALOCK’s M&A cybersecurity assessment identifies liabilities, risks, and integration challenges prior to and following an acquisition. Our cybersecurity experts help you establish reasonable security practices to protect your investment and reputation.

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

Your gaming ecosystem may include a number of vendors, partners, and affiliates that process sensitive data. You must ensure they meet your organization’s risk standards. Supplier risk assessments help you confirm that your partners and affiliates are following cybersecurity best practices and gaming regulations. HALOCK helps you build and maintain a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) program that aligns with your gaming operations.

Risk Assessments

Gaming regulators and payment processors expect your safeguards to be reasonable for your industry and aligned with your specific risks. HALOCK’s Duty of Care Risk Assessment (DoCRA) helps you define a defensible security strategy that balances compliance, business objectives and social responsibility. Perform regular reviews of your risk posture especially in light of SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules and state gaming regulations to maintain a secure and compliant environment.

Legal Advisory Support

When a cybersecurity incident or data breach occurs, your legal team must respond in a way that is defensible and effective. HALOCK can provide legal support for post-breach assessments, evidence collection and expert reporting to support litigation and compliance responses.

Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Human error is one of the leading causes of data breaches. HALOCK’s Security Awareness Training helps your employees identify phishing, social engineering, and credential theft attempts, especially those who access player accounts, process transactions, or handle gaming systems. You can also ensure your employees know how to spot and respond to cyber threats before they cause damage.

Security Engineering & Tools

Protecting the sensitive data of players, payment processors and casino operations requires a layered security architecture. HALOCK can help you design and implement reasonable security controls such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), intrusion detection systems, and web application firewalls (WAF). Our experts can also evaluate your environment against HALOCK’s Industry Threat Index to prepare you for the most common attack types for gaming and gambling.

External Attack Surface Management (EASM)

The online gambling landscape is rapidly expanding across mobile apps, websites and affiliate networks. Your external attack surface changes daily. HALOCK’s EASM service provides continuous discovery, exploit validation and risk-based prioritization so you can stay ahead of ever-evolving threats and build player trust.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Many insurance underwriters are requiring businesses to be prepared for cyber threats and attacks. One of the requirements is to have a written, formal incident response plan. If you want to be insured, develop and execute a comprehensive written information security program (WISP) that outlines how a company protects sensitive information and policies and procedures.

Duty of Care Risk Analysis (DoCRA)

This risk approach helps organizations manage information security risks and establish ‘reasonable security’. By defining your acceptable risk, DoCRA identifies the appropriate controls where the burden is not greater than the risk it is safeguarding. Based on an organization’s mission, objectives, and obligations, DoCRA helps organizations be legally defensible in the event of a breach.

Gambling has evolved into a rapidly growing, technology-driven, and socially embedded industry. But with growth comes exposure. Online betting app companies, gambling operators, or casino owners, you are part of a digital ecosystem that is under constant cyber threat.

Learn how to assess your risk profile and how to secure your assets.

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