Online poker sites are becoming increasingly popular. Gamers love to play online because of how convenient, accessible and easy it is.
Most players actually choose online gaming over land-based gaming now.
Because of this increasing interest in online gaming, poker operators have had to develop strong cybersecurity tools to keep themselves and their clients safe.
They have developed several ways to protect their clients’ privacy and to make sure that their reputation as a business is impeccable.
Here are two of the ways in which online poker sites keep their players and themselves safe.
Prospective players can also use this article to make sure that they choose a safe gaming provider. Although most online poker sites strive to keep their clients safe, some of them do not.
Best to check if a provider’s platform is secure before opening an account with them.
How online poker sites keep their players and themselves safe
Online poker sites have several systems in place to make sure that their data and their clients’ data is protected.
1) Encryption
Online poker sites need their platform to be encrypted. Encryption is a way of hiding data from non-authorized parties by scrambling it.
When a website is encrypted, scammers and hackers cannot pick up or decipher the data they collect.
From a technical standview, encryption turns plaintext, accessible and readable to all, into a secret code or a text can is incomprehensible. This text is also known as ciphertext.
To encrypt their platform, an online poker site needs to use a cryptographic key.
A cryptographic key is a set of mathematical values that will be coded into the platform when it is first created. This key gives both the users and the owners the right to see the plaintext instead of the ciphertext.
Only scammers or those who try to interfere outside of the system will see the ciphertext and not the plaintext.
There are two main ways for users to check whether a platform is encrypted or not.
When a poker site is safe and encrypted, it will usually have a padlock icon next to its HTML address.
Another way to check if a website is encrypted is to look at the platform’s URL. Does it have ‘https’ or ‘http’ in it?
‘Https’ means the website is encrypted. ‘Http’ means it isn’t.
‘Http’ means that all messages are delivered in plaintext instead of being turned into ciphertext. In other words, any unauthorized party can access and read the platform’s data and transactions.
‘Https’ are the way to go because they prove that a website is encrypted and that the platform has an SSL certificate.
An SSL certificate is essential for encryption. It permits encryption by creating a data file with the website’s public key, identity and data.
In short, poker players should look for a provider that has an encrypted platform.
2) Different and secure payment options
On top of offering an encrypted platform, online poker sites usually offer a very secure payment page.
They will have a range of payment options available and a well-known and trustworthy third-party payment processor, like PayPal, Square or Stripe, to secure the payments.
These types of processors or e-wallets help protect customers’ information by acting as a middleman between the platform and the clients. The platform never sees the client’s sensitive information.
They just receive the funds. This system can help reduce a business’ expenses by diminishing the costs of building a secure payment platform.
It can also help an online poker site bring in more customers as e-wallets are considered trustworthy. In other words, a business that offers e-wallet payment options is more likely to be safe according to customers.
Most online poker sites also include some additional security steps to limit fraud and identity theft.
For example, many businesses will include a multi-factor authentication (MFA) step on their payment page.
This is an excellent security protocol to make sure that the person who is paying is actually the owner of the card they are using.
With MFA, clients usually have to log into their bank account and authorize payments manually.
Having a safe and secure payment page is extremely important for poker sites and customers.
It helps poker sites protect their reputation, their sensitive data as well as their clients’ data and meet their compliance requirements.
For example, in Europe, online poker sites have to comply with PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication, which requires MFA. If they do not offer MFA and other secure payment systems, they will have to pay fines.
Over time, if a business repeatedly fails to comply with the security requirements of the continent or country they operate in, they are banned from operating there.
Final thoughts
This article listed some of the ways in which online poker sites keep themselves and their clients safe.
They rely on many tools and systems to do so including encryption, third-party payment processors and additional security steps like MFA.
These security systems help online poker sites build their business and their reputation. Customers are drawn to these types of businesses because they are seen as safe, responsible and trustworthy.
In short, good cybersecurity helps businesses and clients alike by protecting everyone’s data.
