We’re excited to be exhibiting once again at G2E Vegas, October 10 – 13 2022 at Booth #4410.

Our experienced team attending the show will be on hand to discuss our first-to-market strategy in the US, to enable customers to capitalise on the fast-growing market. We are now live in 24 US states, with further sites on our roadmap.

Our US sites are connected on one secure network, which spans 85+ locations globally. This includes our increasing presence in the LatAm market which began with the launch of our cloud offering in Colombia in 2020.

Meet our team

MICHAEL TOBIN

CEO and Founder

NICK NALLY

Managing Director – Americas

JUSTIN COSNETT

Chief Product Officer

GRAEME PRICE

Sales Account Director

GRAHAM FOSTER

Sales Account Director

AIDAN REES-WILLIAMS 

Sales Account Director

DAVID BRACE

Innovation Director

Set up a meeting

Discover more about G2E Vegas and register for the event, here

Our Chief Data Officer Anthony Abou-Jaoude features in the latest edition of iNTERGAMINGi, discussing why Continent 8 is in a unique position when it comes to data.

What role did data play in the launch of your Gaming Exchange?

Data was the foundation for the Gaming Exchange. Continent 8 has been serving the global online gaming industry for more than two decades and that puts us in a unique position when it comes to the data that we host, manage and secure on behalf of our customers.

The industry is made up of hundreds of operators, suppliers and partners, a lot of which are talking to each other daily in terms of traffic and data. But customers wouldn’t have visibility of the traffic flows from a B2B or partner perspective, and that is why we launched our innovative Gaming Exchange and Premium Portal.

It is a powerful private internet and exclusive community exchange for iGaming businesses. It allows them to connect faster and more securely than via the standard internet, with no need for additional configuration. It means Continent 8 customers can connect directly to other Continent 8 customers via an MPLS Layer 3 VPN across our private backbone network rather than route over the public internet. It offers the lowest latency and the highest levels of performance guaranteed with both local and remote reachability. What’s more, it is private and reliable with public IPv4 addressing and an uptime rate in excess of 99.9%.

How does the Premium Portal work alongside the Gaming Exchange?

Our customer portal is one of our unique selling points as it provides our customers with access to all the key metrics, stats and data for the services that we are providing to them. The Premium Portal is an extension of this, available to all customers who join the Gaming Exchange. It is an analytical dashboard that allows users to view and monitor traffic flows within and outside of Continent 8 to other gaming partners. This includes a dynamic map overview for all connectivity between sites and data flows and direction of traffic.

This information can support customers in identifying better or more efficient connectivity service use or even identifying unexpected data flows to unknown destinations. Examples would be moving from public internet traffic use to private Cloud Connect or MPLS services dedicated to connecting customers to partners or hyperscale cloud implementations.

Ultimately, we develop innovations such as this to ensure that we not only meet but exceed customer expectations and that is why we are the leading provider of managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to iGaming businesses around the world.

Just how important is data analytics and what solutions do you offer to help customers understand the huge volumes of data they generate and have access to? 

Our data transformation started with us trying to solve our own challenges with the rapid growth that we have been experiencing in recent years. A year ago, we formed a data analytics team, designed to better manage our capacity management, monitoring and problem detection.

Furthermore, we enabled data democratisation which made it possible for data to be shared across the organisation rather than being held within individual business units. As a result, more people across the organisation can use data to improve their work. They can work faster and be more productive, and they don’t need to check in with other staff to get their work done.

In solving our own problems, we realised that this transformation could benefit our customers greatly, so we are also in the early phases of implementing a fully-fledged API to provide our customers with more access to data via an industry-standard way of accessing it.

For those not in the know, could you explain data hosting in finer detail?

Data hosting is the provision of hardware, systems, software and infrastructure required to store and access management of data. There are different types of data hosting from managed to co-location and cloud. Each business (and market you operate in) has its own unique requirements when it comes to data hosting, and we work closely with our customers to build bespoke solutions that meet their specific needs. In recent years, we have seen a shift towards companies using the cloud to host their data, allowing them to unlock the tremendous benefits it offers.

Take our Public Cloud solution as an example, available in multiple iGaming markets such as Atlantic City, Isle of Man, Colombia, and Gibraltar to name a few. Customers have the ability to scale bandwidth up and down in line with demand. Another significant upside to the cloud is that it eliminates the need for ongoing hardware investment, providing flexibility to pay for resources as required. Continent 8 fully manages the Cloud environment by up to and including the Hypervisor, whilst enabling customers to have complete control and management of their internal systems and data. This removes the need for customers to maintain and support the infrastructure and instead focus on running their business.

Many players are rightfully concerned about how their data is stored and released. What security measures does your company take to ensure a player’s online safety?

We have more than 20 years of experience protecting data in the online gaming space. Our knowledge tells us that organisations, in terms of data security, should take a layered approach.

There is a range of solutions this should include: DDoS, WAAP, Endpoint Protection and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). We recently enhanced our Secure offering with Managed Threat Detection & Response solutions. This is a complete end-to-end proactive threat solution combining advanced SIEM/EDR/SOAR/ML technologies with proven 24/7 SOC resources.  This gives businesses and organisations unprecedented visibility and response capabilities against known and unknown threats at a time when cybercriminals are really upping the ante. This in turn allows our operator customers to reassure their players that their data is being stored to the highest possible standards.

How has regulation influenced your company?

Regulation is hugely complex, but it is vital that we understand the requirements in each of the markets we offer our products and solutions. We also have a first-to-market approach, so we have to make sure that we are part of the discussions from day one and use our experience and expertise to help regulators when it comes to creating their frameworks and specifically in relation to infrastructure, hosting, connectivity and security. By working hand in hand with policymakers, Continent 8 has emerged as the provider of choice for some of the biggest gambling operators in the world and in fast-growth markets such as the US, Latin America and Canada. This approach also ensures we remain ahead of our rivals.

Take our Atlantic City data centre as an example. Launched in 2019 and housed within the landmark Atlantic City Convention Centre, it is the only data site in the state that has been purpose-built for the online gambling industry. It is fully compliant with DGE regulations and is the only independent, licensed facility that can house gaming infrastructure outside of a licensed casino. We are completing stage three expansion of the site, adding 30% capacity. We also recently became the first provider to launch a regulated Gaming Cloud in the state of Pennsylvania.

The terms ‘big data’ and ‘analytics’ are certainly buzzwords in the igaming sector. Could you explain their importance in terms of how your company utilises them and their influence on the industry in general?

Data and ‘big data’, and the ability to effectively analyse the huge volumes of information that iGaming businesses generate, are key success factors for any operator or supplier. Data allows companies to make decisions based on facts, whether that be for personalisation and demographic profiling, game development, tailored marketing, or responsible gaming programs.

But to do that they need to be able to collect, store and effectively analyse the information in front of them. They also need to be able to do this securely. Continent 8 has been at the cutting-edge of big data in the iGaming industry for more than 20 years now, and that puts us in a unique position and is why we are the partner of choice for some of the biggest businesses in the sector.

Source: iNTERGAMINGi – Issue 4

Security specialist Continent 8 blocked 178 DDoS attacks in Q2 2022. Craig Lusher from our Secure team reviews the latest company data, as well as recent global attacks and trends.

Q2 2022 DDoS stats

Our latest statistics show the number of DDoS attacks almost doubled from Q1 2022 to Q2 2022, up from 106 events in the last quarter to 178.

The stats for the period 1 April to 30 June 2022, relate to more than 20 of our customers based in different locations around the world. Key highlights include:

The location subject to the largest number of attacks during the period was Taiwan – this is an emerging trend.

Craig Lusher, Senior Product Specialist – Secure, at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Even during this relatively quiet period, we continue to see significant DDoS attacks on our customers. While most attacks remain relatively small, it is now commonplace to see attacks peak at over 1Tbps; we have blocked these large scale attacks every quarter during 2021 and 2022 to date.

 “DDoS attacks, and the sophistication of these, will only increase, so it’s never been a more important time to protect your business and brand.”

The evolving DDoS landscape

What used to be minor nuisances by rookie attackers, have become major and targeted attacks by sophisticated cyber criminals. We continue to see DDoS attacks hitting the news – recently cybercriminals targeted the US Congress website. And back in March the Israeli government was temporarily knocked offline.

In fact, DDoS attacks are now everyday occurrences, with no business vertical immune to being the target. The cost of an attack to your brand is higher than ever, with the average cost of a data breach jumping to $4.24 million as of 2021 (+10% from 2020).

Customers and businesses should be asking themselves, ‘are you protected?’.

Continent 8’s DDoS Protection

Recently named a key player in the DDoS attack solution market (source: Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack Solution Market Industry Development 2022 – 2028), we have been protecting the world’s most valuable information for over two decades. Our comprehensive cybersecurity solutions include effective and scalable protection against DDoS attacks.

Our mitigation service provides an effective defence against multi-vector volumetric attacks. Key features include:

Our solution continues to evolve and in recent months we have amplified our scrubbing capacity to 2.0+Tbps, as well as increased our scrubbing centres geographically deployed across multiple continents. Locations now include: Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.

Our proven platform is one you can rely on with a capacity only matched by the largest DDoS providers on the planet. Learn more about our DDoS solutions here or contact Craig via craig.lusher@continent8.com

 

Our third Leaders and Legends panel took place at the recent KPMG Gibraltar eSummit.

The session featured some of the most well-known and respected names in the industry:

The insightful topics discussed included:

The session is now available to watch on demand

Thank you to all our superb panellists and to Micky for moderating a fascinating debate.

Click here to watch our first Leaders and Legends panel.

Click here to watch our second Leaders and Legends webinar.

Our third Leaders and Legends panel took place at the recent KPMG Gibraltar eSummit.

The session featured some of the most well-known and respected names in the industry:

The insightful topics discussed included:

The session is now available to watch on demand

Thank you to all our superb panellists and to Micky for moderating a fascinating debate.

Click here to watch our first Leaders and Legends panel.

Click here to watch our second Leaders and Legends webinar.

Some of our Canada-based team attended the recent Collision Conference in Toronto. Referred to as “America’s fastest-growing tech conference”, the event certainly didn’t disappoint. Bringing together inspiring speakers, tech’s leading companies, and top media, the team enjoyed making new connections and learning about the latest tech developments.

Below Jordan Holmes, HR Manager (JH), Adrien Labelle, Software Development Manager (AL) and Pawel Blazeiewicz (PB), Senior Cloud and Infrastructure Architect, share their highlights and learnings from the global conference.

What did you enjoy most about the event? 

JH: Collision certainly lived up to its billing as “North America’s fastest-growing tech conference.” The production value was incredible. Everything from Boston Dynamics’ mobile robots roving the halls to keynote addresses from the likes of Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google.

AL: The variety of companies present at the event was very impressive.

PB: For me Collision was an opportunity to investigate the start-up markets and ideas that they are trying to push as well as where the digital industry and currencies are going. The scale of the conference was mind-blowing. I did speak to a lot of vendors and listened to some very good interviews about current and future trends.

What tech brand stood out to you? 

JH: There were several exciting offerings but from my corner of the world, a Canadian tech talent recruitment platform called Vanhack seems very promising.

AL: Brands that try to address and automate traditional business issues like Float and Jeeves (paperless automated expense systems) stood out to me.

Who was your favourite speaker, and why? 

JH: Garry Kasparov delivered a sobering but highly insightful talk about the conflict in Ukraine and the impacts on global cybersecurity.

AL: Andy Yen (founder and CEO of Proton – the world’s largest secure email provider) about online privacy issues. He provided a very insightful explanation on what needs to be fixed and how to do it.

PB: A significant element of Collision 2022 was cryptocurrencies and all that comes with this. I managed to listen to two interesting interviews. First was with Kathleen Breitman (Co-founder and CEO of Tezos) and Kyle Samani (Co-founder and Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital) who spoke about the next challenge for the crypto market as it moves towards global adoption.

The second one was with blockchain.com CEO, Nicolas Cary, who has been a pioneer in this market for the last 10 years. It was a fantastic occasion to see the leaders of this community describe how blockchain could shape our future!

What one thing did you learn that will most influence how you do business going forward?

JH: It can be a bit of a tired refrain in the tech industry, but we need to automate. From a human resources perspective, I want to maximise our greatest asset – our people. The best way to do that is to automate as many time-consuming, administratively burdensome processes as possible to free our people to create, innovate and grow.

AL: The focus needs to be put on data: how we use it and how we can automate it.

PB: I am very interested in seeing where part of our world is going, and how far it will digitalise. At this moment in time, you can put on a set of VR goggles, and you can see and immerse into a virtual office working from anywhere in the world! Will it adopt? Maybe 😊

What technological innovation are you most excited about? 

JH: Certainly not the robot dogs! That is not a paradigm in need of disruption.

AL: AI assisted automation in general, it will help identify areas of business where manual work is redundant and data underutilised.

PB: The pace of change and innovation in tech is accelerating A LOT. With automation, we will be doing things so much faster. This will of course be a positive for Continent 8, and there are plenty of examples whereby automation can support us.

Let’s take our Public Cloud setup as an example. We are currently in the process of automating the installation phase, which will significantly speed up deployments.

I look forward to seeing what innovation we will witness next and what we can do with the current products that we offer.

Anthony Abou-Jaoude, Chief Data Officer at Continent 8, added: “There was a lot to take from the Collision conference, and a fantastic experience for myself and members of the team. What was particularly rewarding or me, was that I got confirmation that our digital transformation at Continent 8 is on the right track, especially when it comes to APIs, and how we must start thinking more about an API first model, to enable more data to be shared with our customers.”

Learn more about the Collision Conference here

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