With such a rapid transition to an almost-completely digital world, businesses are rushing to keep up with modern industry trends. The use of cryptocurrency has become so widespread that many platforms are now accepting payments in this form. This is no different for the iGaming sector, with crypto being integrated into online gambling at lightning speed. However, high rewards come with high risks: dedicated cyber criminals targeting your crypto wallet. As such, your first line of defense is a VPN (Virtual Private Network), a non-negotiable when it comes to your online safety.
The iGaming Evolution: A Case Study
For most punters, crypto wallets have become a default payment method for most online purchases, but especially for iGaming. In turn, this has made them a prime target for phishing and MITM (Man-in-the-Middle) attacks, adding pressure on casino operators to up their player safety measures. CoinCasino is a great example of a platform where user safety is its top priority. Most bitcoin casinos like this one use advanced encryption and security protocols to make sure players stay in control at all times.
Two-factor authentication, anonymous registration, and blockchain payments that keep your financial details private all contribute to online protection. Even with these internal security offerings, it still might not be enough to protect you against advanced attacks. For instance, network-level attacks on your internet connection are an external threat that a certain website or platform’s measures won’t be able to protect you from. This makes your connection your weakest link, which is where the need for a (good) VPN comes in.
Threat Focus 1: Phishing – The Deceptive Digital Bait
There is normal phishing, and then there is wallet-draining phishing, a scam designed to trick you into giving up your private keys or seed phrases. At times, these can be quite obvious, but with how innovative technology has become, scams have evolved to be more sophisticated. You might not even realize it is happening to you until it is too late. With iGaming platforms, scammers will go as far as trying to mimic popular online casinos or betting sites to trick multiple players at once.
By creating these duplicate websites, it is easier for them to steal wallet provider emails and or other site credentials. While a VPN cannot stop you from clicking into a malicious site, it does make it more difficult for cybercriminals to profile your connection. Essentially, the built-in DNS and IP leak protection makes for great URL masking, making you a harder and less valuable target for hyper-localized attempts. In using a VPN, you become a bad investment for hackers.
Threat Focus 2: MITM Attacks – The Wiretap on Your Winnings
An even more sophisticated and scary cyber scam is MITM attacks, which have cybercriminals intercepting the connection between your device and the casino platform. Through this interception, they can read and potentially modify the communication sent from your laptop or cellphone to the website. It also explains why it is often recommended that you avoid using public WiFi or internet connections at coffee shops or airports.
Not only can scammers steal your session cookies, but they might also steal unencrypted wallet data as you sign into your iGaming account or complete a transaction. As such, the presence of a VPN becomes even more crucial as it can wrap your connection in a military-grade, zero-trust, encrypted tunnel. With a VPN enabled, let’s say a hacker tries to intercept your connection: all they are going to see is useless, scrambled up, ciphertext in place of your data. This successfully renders a potential MITM attack completely useless.
The VPN Shield: Your Digital Lifeline
Taking a closer look at all the benefits of a VPN means understanding that there is an array of immediate and tangible benefits on offer. The core value of this tool is to guarantee end-to-end encryption, but it is actually more complex than this. One such instance is the IP masking and privacy benefit, which can hide your true location by covering up your IP address. Beyond localized scams, cyber attackers can also use your IP information to track your real-world address and tie it back to your crypto transactions.
With a VPN, you get an added layer of anonymity and geo-spoofing (a feature already provided with blockchain technology). Most VPN providers make use of a “zero-log” policy, which means the company delivering the software does not track or store your data either. In turn, your gambling and financial activity cannot be tracked in any way, maximizing your privacy.
Conclusion: The Smart Wager
Crypto iGaming is, unfortunately, one of the perfect sectors for cyber criminals due to its high-value offerings. This further proves why it is non-negotiable to use a VPN, as your security is not a luxury, but rather a necessity. Conduct due diligence, find a reliable and secure VPN, and remember to turn it on before signing into your iGaming account for your next session. Don’t gamble with your security.
