With the growing popularity of online gaming, more and more gaming sites are being developed every day. The Internet is a wonderful place, but it is also prone to all kinds of dangers and cybercrimes. The most common type of danger that gaming sites are often vulnerable to is DDOS attacks. In this article, we will understand what a DDOS attack really is, how gaming websites can ensure that they are safe from the risk of DDOS attacks, and some measures to protect gaming websites from DDOS attacks.
What is a DDOS attack?
Now, before we start discussing solutions to the problems gaming sites face across the Internet, we need to understand what a DDOS attack really is and how it affects gaming sites. A DDoS attack is a type of malicious activity on the web that is initially performed “for fun” by cyber intruders.
In a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, malicious actors leverage resources from multiple remote locations to disrupt an organization’s online operations. These attacks typically target network devices and services, such as routers, naming services, or caching services, in an attempt to overload and manipulate their functionality.
25% of Gambling Sites DDOSed in June
Chillingly, almost 25% of gambling sites were hit by a DDOS in June this year. 25% is a pretty big number and shows how common DDOS attacks are. When a site encounters a DDOS attack, its online services fail to function or not function at all.
A DDOS attack can cause a service interruption or complete shutdown of a particular website. According to the ratio in the statistics, 1 in 4 gambling website services are attacked by DDOS, which creates a great vulnerability to other gambling websites on the network. The prevailing opinion is that if you are in the gaming industry, your online business is guaranteed to suffer at least one DDoS attack.
DDOS Attacks Can Cause Huge Losses
DDOS attacks are known to take a toll on businesses and severely disrupt website operations. Now, let’s discuss these losses in more detail and what exactly happens when a website suffers a DDOS attack. A DDOS attack on a site can cause significant revenue loss to a company by stopping important revenue-generating activities and services of the company. For gambling sites, a DDOS attack can cause downtime, resulting in lost revenue and decreased consumer trust.
It has been observed that most DDoS attacks are launched during major sporting events such as Wimbledon. This is done to drive customers away from their preferred platform and drive them to a competitor’s site, potentially exacerbating lost revenue. You’d be surprised how even an hour of downtime on a gambling site can be huge. Another scary fact about DDOS attacks is that DDoS attackers are now employing mixed attack tactics. With this tactic, attackers combine various attack methods with social engineering, credential theft, and physical attacks.
How to Protect Your Gambling Site From Attacks?
Dennis, casino expert at casinosclub.in said: “Prevention of DDOS attacks is critical for gambling sites”. This is exactly why now we need to look at what companies can do to ensure they are safe from DDOS attacks.
Minimize the attack surface to limit the attacker’s options. Reducing the attack surface area enables you to build protection in one place.
Equipping websites with more advanced protection technologies can go a step further and intelligently accept only legitimate traffic by analyzing the individual packets themselves.
The best way to stay safe from attacks such as SQL injection or cross-site request forgery is to use a web application firewall.
