Latin America is a huge region and one that is incredibly exciting for the global online gambling industry with lots of opportunities on the table. Continent 8 has been growing its presence significantly in LatAm over the past few years, initially launching in Colombia in 2020 and with further rollouts in countries such as Puerto Rico and Peru.
Due to the scale and scope of the region, a one size fits all approach simply does not work. Although there are similarities in markets across LatAm, each has its own culture and way of doing things, so a localized approach is required. This covers technology, distance to customers, regulation, infrastructure needs and more.
Puerto Rico is a good example here. As a country that is linked to the US, it has different rules and requirements than other LatAm markets such as Colombia and Argentina, so we adapted and expanded our network and infrastructure to ensure compliance with the regulations. This means that no matter where a customer is connected, they receive the same market-leading quality of service and have access to a network that now spans 80+ locations globally.
Regarding Chile, Continent 8 has plans to deploy infrastructure on the ground or to provide our services to customers in the market from a neighboring country depending on what the regulations ultimately look like. We believe Chile is a key market for the region, so we are pleased to see that the country is making progress when it comes to regulating online gambling.
Our current roadmap will see us expand into Argentina and Brazil next, but should Chile get the green light over the next few months then we would likely adjust course. We have a first to market approach and given the significance of the Chilean market, we would do what was necessary to ensure that our customers were in the position to go live from day one.
This is only possible because we are an agile company with the resources at hand and the processes in place to be able to quickly and easily adapt to the ever-changing nature of the regulatory landscape, not only in LatAm but also in North America and Europe.
The stability of the market is important, but so too are other factors such as population, propensity to gamble, internet coverage, smartphone penetration and more. Chile is roughly a third of the size of Colombia and Argentina when it comes to population, but it has a good net income per capita and gambling is a popular activity in the country. The stability in Chile compensates for its smaller population size so when all factors are considered it has the potential to be a very strong online gambling market indeed.
Continent 8 is the go-to provider for managed hosting, connectivity and security solutions. We have a global connected network spanning 80+ locations across four continents. Our solutions include public cloud, hyperscale connectivity, cybersecurity (for example DDoS and SOC/SIEM) and much more.
For cybersecurity, operators and suppliers should be focusing on this and the threat that cybercrime poses to the industry, which is one of the most attacked sectors. Continent 8 has more than 15 years of experience protecting industry data, and preventing and mitigating attacks.
Chile already has certified data centers that are compliant with local and international regulations, so it would make sense for us to join forces to create a market-leading solution for iGaming companies active in the market. Chile has very good global connectivity, so we can leverage this to deliver international connectivity via submarine cables that run through the Pacific Ocean and to the Atlantic through Argentina and the Caribbean.
I believe there are more opportunities than challenges as infrastructure and networks in the country are well developed in terms of suppliers and the quality of the product and service offered. Of course, Chile is a seismic zone so it will be important for companies to have off-site backup and/or a contingency site.
Absolutely! In fact, we are already speaking with and supporting policymakers as we have done in other markets around the world. Continent 8 is no stranger to regulation, and we are more than happy to share our experience and knowledge with iGaming regulators across the globe and also work with them to ensure that our solutions are fully compliant.
This partnership results in them taking 60% of the overall land-based casino market in Chile, and this will certainly allow them to use their brand image to empower online activity once the market opens up.
However, there are other international iGaming companies that players in Chile are already engaged with so despite this I expect the market to be one of healthy competition between local operators and global brands. As always, there will also be opportunities for smaller operators to identify a niche and claim their share of what looks set to be a sizeable market.
This article features in G3 May 2022 edition on page 48.
The Continent 8 journey began in 1998. For more than 20 years we have been serving the global gambling industry, providing our customers with secure, high availability global managed hosting, connectivity, and security solutions. Over this time our products and services have evolved to reflect the ever-changing technology landscape.
We take great pride in being a leading service provider to the industry and at a time when demand for our solutions is increasing significantly. Despite this rapid growth, we are committed to offering quality, flexibility, and outstanding customer service via our global team while at the same time providing a local, bespoke approach to each partner.
Our reach is global, but our focus and customer service is very much local. We have an interconnected global network of more than 80 locations across four continents – Europe, Asia, North America and South America. We are launching new sites every month, particularly in the US where we are committed to being first to market in regulated states as soon as they open their doors to legal online gambling.
Take our Atlantic City data centre in New Jersey 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 currently completing stage three expansion of the site with a modular addition approved by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, adding 30% capacity.
Regulation is incredibly complex and one of the biggest challenges we face. This is certainly the case when it comes to data security and compliance and especially in the US market where regulations differ from state to state. This is why we focus on developing relationships and working closely with regulators in each state – and in other global markets – to understand their requirements so that we can establish the right infrastructure to support our customers while also ensuring compliance.
Regulation may be complex, but it is nothing new and our 20+ years of experience in the industry means we are well placed to work with regulators, understand requirements and build the best-in-class infrastructure to deliver our solutions within the guidelines set.
Continent 8 is here to support its customers in each of the markets they wish to target. While entering new markets is not without its challenges, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to keep expanding globally and to be assisting our customers with their own expansion plans. Today we are live in 80+ locations around the world and are on target to increase that number to more than 90 by the end of the year.
Our expansion plans are truly global. Of course, the US market is a key focus right now and we are already live in 24 states with many more set to come online including Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio and South Dakota.
In Europe, we have recently opened sites in Latvia (Riga) and Romania (Bucharest).
We have also been busy in Latin America, a region where we believe the gambling industry will enjoy incredible growth over the next two to five years. We now offer our full suite of solutions in Colombia, Peru and Puerto Rico with Argentina and Brazil set to follow. What’s more, we have recently acquired sub-sea cable capacity from Portugal to Brazil to reduce latency from Europe to Latin America, providing further support to European customers entering the region.
Demand is of course a factor in defining our international expansion strategy. Right now, we know the American market is booming – with operators looking to quickly enter regulated states. As a customer-centric business, we have a clear understanding of the markets our customers are prioritising and adjust our own roadmap to ensure we are able to support their expansion plans.
We have been providing our services and solutions to the global gambling industry for the past 20 years and this puts us in a unique position of having unrivalled insight and experience in what it takes to assist our customers in successfully entering new markets.
As the US market develops and matures, companies will have to adhere to standards-based operations which means the challenge for operators will be to avoid becoming inundated with service provider contracts. At Continent 8, we’re able to offer a single contract across the US under one master services agreement with service-level agreements sitting underneath that – this makes it much easier for our customers.
The rise in the number of cyber-attacks and in particular DDoS and Ransomware is incredibly alarming. In 4Q21, we blocked 641 DDoS attacks against our customers, up from 546 in the previous quarter. It is worth noting that the Q3 number was more than double that recorded in the second quarter. Worryingly, we are not only seeing a rise in the number of attacks but also the size, which in Q4 breached 1Tbps for the second quarter running. The largest attack size registered during Q4 was 1.9Tbps – a record for us.
That is why it is vital that organisations strengthen their defences today if they are to give themselves the best opportunity to successfully defend against an attack. An attack that is more likely a case of when and not if.
We are growing incredibly quickly, especially in the US where we have a first to market strategy to ensure our customers have that all-important competitive advantage. We are also enhancing and strengthening our security products and solutions to meet the rising threat and prevalence of cyber-attacks that we have seen over the past 12 months.
This article features in iNTERGAMINGi Issue 2 2022 on Page 59.
Our team will be attending iGaming NEXT New York City, 12 – 13 May in Manhattan.
Continent 8 is proud to be supporting the event as main stage sponsor, which will play host to many world class speakers across the 2 days. 🗽
With a connected network of over 80+ locations globally, including 24 US states, Continent 8 is the trusted infrastructure partner to the fast-growing US iGaming industry, offering market-leading Connect, Manage and Secure solutions.
Find out more about how our business can support your growth in North America and further afield; set up a meeting with our dedicated team by emailing sales@continent8.com
We look forward to seeing you soon at this exciting new event. To learn more about iGaming NEXT New York City visit: NYC22 – iGaming NEXT
A number of our team will be attending ICE London in April including Aidan Rees-Williams, Caroline Moran, Graeme Price and Graham Foster from our Sales team.
With a connected network of over 80+ locations globally, Continent 8 is the trusted infrastructure partner to the iGaming industry, offering market-leading Connect, Manage and Secure solutions.
Find out more about how our business can support your growth globally; set up a meeting with our dedicated team by emailing sales@continent8.com
We look forward to seeing you soon at the largest global iGaming gathering.
To learn more about ICE London and register, visit: https://www.icelondon.uk.com/
According to independent analysis company Canalys, global cloud services spend exceeded $50 billion in Q4 2021, bringing the industry total for the year to $178 billion!
With increased demand for cloud infrastructure services, Continent 8 (C8) has positioned itself as the multi-cloud provider for the global online gambling (real money gaming) industry, and we have achieved some phenomenal growth in our Cloud capabilities.
In this article, Justin Cosnett covers what multi-cloud means in C8, the differences, what a regulated or community Cloud is, and future developments we are working on.
Choosing the right Cloud solution for your business is crucial; here’s a quick overview of the various Cloud solutions available, and the pros and cons associated with these.
A community Cloud is a Public Cloud which is oriented towards a specific community or vertical or industry. It may have specific properties or capabilities which are directed towards achieving the goals of a specific community of users. The C8 regulated Cloud is therefore a community Cloud – it’s a Public Cloud environment which is multi-tenanted but designed to specifically provide an iGaming community with a Cloud which meets the complex regulatory requirements for the industry.
C8 operates a regulatory compliant Cloud environment in Atlantic City, Malta, Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Kahnawake – as well as community or Public Clouds in Colombia, Dublin, and Taiwan.
As C8 expands we can deploy network edge Clouds which can be grown to provide community or regulatory Cloud functions, as well as hybrid or network edge functionality to customer infrastructure, aligning with C8’s multi-cloud vision:
Providing a dedicated customer environment for customers matching their specific requirements, a Private Cloud is a tailored solution which minimises infrastructure management. C8 manages, monitors, and supports the entire infrastructure beneath the customers Cloud environment.
C8 can even provision customers Private Cloud environments in a Public Cloud for preparation activity, and migrate when the Private Cloud is available, enabling customers to have an accelerated project plan for new deployments.
During the requirements gathering and design stage, C8 will establish which infrastructure architecture will best support the customers immediate and long-term needs:
This is combined with ensuring the right level of storage IOPS and CPU contention as well as any backup requirements, for example an attached Veeam environment.
We already deliver significant managed connectivity to all the hyperscale providers, enabling customers to exchange data securely and privately between their Hyperscale and Public or Private Cloud environments.
C8 has been growing its partnership accreditation and capability to support a professional and managed services capability:
In summary, C8 is well-equipped to assist customers in adoption, migration, and best practice use of the right Cloud for the right workload, per the C8 Cloud vision!
Contact our experts today to find out more about which Cloud is right for you via sales@continent8.com
David Brace, Senior Solutions Architect at Continent 8 Technologies explains that there has been a significant rise in DDoS events in the last year, and highlights the steps businesses can take to successfully fight them off.
The so-called ‘new normal’ of remote interactions has resulted in an estimated 30% increase in global internet traffic and a corresponding rise in cyber security incidents.
Throughout 2020 the number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks detected globally was doubling quarter on quarter, peaking in September before levelling off in Q4.
This trend looks set to continue in 2021 with attacks of varying size and sophistication targeting organisations of all types, from global internet giants to local governmental departments.
Worryingly, a second wave of ransom DDoS attacks retargeting companies previously hit in the summer of 2020 was recorded, with analysis of the ransom notes suggesting the same threat actors are behind this latest wave of attacks.
With the number of attacks being launched set to increase in volume and complexity, businesses on the Island must ensure they take the necessary steps to ensure they are as protected as can be.
Before looking at the products, systems and protocols businesses must have in place to fight off DDoS attacks, first we will look at what these attacks are, how they work and who is behind them.
A Distributed Denial of Service attack is when a website or application is inundated with so many requests – this can be thousands per second – that ultimately the service is rendered unusable.
DDoS attacks have the potential to take a business entirely offline, causing disruptions to products, services, revenues and reputations.
It is not uncommon for attackers to issue ransom notices to organisations prior to an attack, and if they don’t receive payment, they unleash the bots used to inundate the website with requests and take it offline.
It is a simple, effective way of doing incredible damage to a business.
One of the most difficult things about falling victim to a successful DDoS attack is that you are unlikely to ever know who is behind it. But in our experience, they tend to fall into the below groups:
Motivations for launching attacks can and do differ, but the most common are for financial gain, to take down a competitor or to cause reputational damage or embarrassment to an organisation.
A successful DDoS attack can be absolutely devastating for a business. It can take a service such as an online casino or ecommerce site entirely offline.
For other businesses, it can see their customer databases raided and stolen, or sensitive data breached and published online for the world to see.
This has many bad side effects for governments and businesses, from a bad customer experience to major damage to your reputation and a loss of revenue.
They can also hit internal processes hard and lead to a significant reduction in productivity and, most concerningly, risk incurring potential compliance breaches.
While any organisation can fall victim to a DDoS attack, Malta’s reliance on subsea infrastructure to deliver internet services, coupled with requirements around data sovereignty and residency, mean organisations on the Island can be more vulnerable to DDoS attacks.
Moving to a cloud-based solution undoubtedly helps limit the risks related to an attack, but it doesn’t remove the threat entirely, as any device, service or application that is connected to the internet can be the target of an attack.
With 96% of all IT functions operating outside of the cloud and a finite amount of bandwidth available between Malta and the rest of the internet, it could only take one well targeted attack to cause severe impact to your organisation.
During a recent webinar organised by Continent 8, John Coleman, CEO of Microgaming, used the analogy which is helpful to anyone who is not an IT specialist: “You can no longer rely on high walls to protect your house. It’s now essential to have bright lights, security patrols, bars on the windows, motion sensors, security patrols, alarms, and guard dogs.”
Whilst that may sound extreme, it is a good way to illustrate the heightened level of cybersecurity solutions required to protect your critical data and systems.
Layered defences
Businesses need a layered approach for protection, covering cloud-based services and those running on physical infrastructure: Web Application Firewall (WAF) services, Network level DDoS detection, and Network level DDoS protection all play a part in protecting your organisation and its services.
Experience
Continent 8s DDoS defence service is a mature, proven platform, built and developed over 16 years, using an optimised combination of technologies and our customised development layer.
This experience enables our team to design bespoke protection services tailored to fit any organisation’s needs. Local engineers, backed by a global team, work in partnership with our customers to evolve these services to meet the everchanging threat landscape.
Global reach
With a resilient global network spanning 4 continents and over 60 connected locations, Continent 8 connects Malta to the global internet via 3 separate subsea cable systems using a blended approach to ensure our service is not reliant on any one provider.
All traffic entering the network is inspected and profiled at the point of ingress, this ensures any malicious traffic is stopped at the network edge and legitimate traffic can be delivered to the end destination with minimal disruption.
Local presence
Continent 8 has a long-standing presence in Malta providing technical services to local and global organisations. The team has recently expanded with the addition of Melissa Lamb as Sales Account Director. Working from Continent 8’s offices in Ta’ Xbiex as part of the worldwide sales team, Melissa is tasked with expanding our customer base in Malta and beyond, providing a personalised, bespoke offering to current and prospective clients.
Get in touch with Melissa to learn more about Continent 8’s Secure offering, melissa.lamb@continent8.com
This article featured in the Sunday Times of Malta on 28 March 2021.
In this blog, Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8 Technologies provides information on how we are enabling AWS Outposts for our customers.
Ordering an AWS Outpost is advertised as a partner or AWS led activity; certainly customers need to have identified and confirmed sufficient capabilities prior to placing an order, as well as meeting some AWS criteria. Until server form factor outposts are available (expected 2021); AWS Outpost is a full pre-built 42U rack of AWS proprietary equipment, with some very specific requirements (and even dimensions) to be confirmed. It’s worth briefly covering some of the aspects or considerations which C8 assists with through our enablement package.
Rack environment needs to be suitable, as you would expect for any computer equipment. In theory an AWS Outpost could be placed geographically anywhere; although as AWS-only supported hardware, it has to be cited within range of AWS personnel and parts.
Note: Some specific iGaming jurisdictions have been a challenge here, and we are keen to assist in overcoming this in some way, in the very near future.
Most of the requirements questions for a co-location provider like C8 are pretty standard response. In all cases C8 has a policy of ensuring minimum ASHRAE standards for any co-location we build, develop or partner in. However, there are questions which many co-location providers wouldn’t have in standard data sheets or RFI responses, and C8 is well versed in responding or managing these queries.
It’s worth noting that whilst the AWS Outpost rack is a relatively industry standard 42U height, many colocation facilities are setup with existing racks and containment to produce the most efficient airflow and PUE, (more often recently with 46 or 48U racks in-situ, and dual PDU). It’s necessary to confirm any size difference and containment works necessary to accommodate the AWS Outpost rack (80 (h) x 24 (w) x 48 (d) inches), and this may bear some cost or timescale, as well as ensuring sufficient space for delivery for final placement via loading dock and all areas between.
AWS documentation shows that Outpost comes in 3 “default” flavours per published details (5, 10 or 15 kVA), though actual power draw will differ by ordered configuration and utilization. There are very specific power feed and power connector options (8 in total published, redundant and non redundant single or three phase). In the US, for example, C8 have found requirements often result in selection of a single phase (delivered via 2-6 whips from above or below) being the main supported configuration because of the circuit voltage and frequency available by default in US facilities. This may be different in other geographies or even specific facilities. Again, additional power whips / upgraded power circuit breakers or specific power connector requirements may incur some cost or timescale.
AWS Outpost support single mode fiber (SMF) with Lucent Connector (LC), multimode fiber (MMF), or MMF OM4 with LC in 1, 10, 40 and 100Gbps port speed connections.
Currently (and this may change), an AWS Outpost – whilst having local gateway and load balancer features – by default requires a “Customer owned” local area network infrastructure in order to connect publicly and privately to AWS and the internet (Hence article diagram). This means customers are expected to either have a pre-existing network edge capability in situ, or one which will be installed to a separate rack on site, as the AWS Outpost cannot contain any non-AWS infrastructure, or indeed be accessed by any non-AWS staff for maintenance.
iGaming, where the Outpost is intended as a production or “back-end” infrastructure to satisfy geographic requirements; some customers don’t have or want dedicated owned local network infrastructure. In this scenario C8 can assist by provided the necessary network edge as a service (NEaaS), providing all of the functionality necessary to connect the AWS Outpost to the internet (in-jurisdiction and Tier 1 peering) and AWS (privately or publicly).
C8 are already able to provision direct private connectivity to AWS (and many other hyper-scale clouds) for our customers from any C8 source site. This service (C8 Cloud Connect) can be similarly delivered to an AWS Outpost via our MPLS backbone and interconnection to suitable AWS network edge, ensuring low latency, reduced jitter and no packet loss from source to destination and not subject to public surface area for DDoS attack.
With a bespoke hardware infrastructure stack, there are considerable preparation tasks and assessments and 3-party liaison before an order can be placed, let alone delivery and installation confirmed and completed. The C8 team are familiar with the necessary information to be provided (pre- and post- AWS order), regular calls with customers and AWS specialists, and also site assessments and validations necessary to ensure all preparations and information correct for a successful deployment.
As you would expect for a co-location provider for many years, C8 is well prepared to accommodate different or pre-built racks, having similarly delivered other racks, such as Infinidat, with a very similar process. However, C8 are also able to bring network, security and industry experience and expertise to support this growing hybrid cloud and cloud partner solution requirement.
For more information on how Continent 8 can support your cloud, connectivity and security needs, get in touch via sales@continent8.com
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8 Technologies. With 20+ years’ experience in the hosting and SaaS sectors in a number of customer facing roles, Justin has a strong technical background. He joined Continent 8 in 2012 and was Head of Solution Architect before being promoted to Chief Product Officer.
Following the hugely successful Leaders and Legends panel discussion at ICE London 2020, we were determined to bring it back this year. However, as we are unable to meet at the expo, we’re going digital on 2nd February with a webinar, powered by EGR.
Our clients include some of the biggest names in iGaming, and once again we have worked with them to bring together 6 of the industry’s most successful leaders to give their expert views on the hottest topics in iGaming.
It’s going to be a great opportunity to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience amassed by these industry legends. Micky Swindale (Partner, KPMG Global Gaming Team) was a superb moderator at last year’s event, and we’re delighted that she will be taking on the same role again.
A big thank you in advance to everyone taking part.
In the meantime refresh your memory of last year’s epic Leaders and Legends event at ICE London 2020.
Continent 8’s latest product, the Cloud Web Application Firewall (WAF), is designed to protect against zero-day attacks with near zero false positives and has been developed in partnership with cyber-security experts, Fortinet. Jorge Morales, Sales Director at Continent 8, explains the significance of the Cloud WAF and sheds light on the company’s strategic expansion into Latin America.
There are three main components to the Cloud WAF: web application security, bot management and deception, and API protection.
Web application security is needed for PCI compliance and other compliance needs. We worked with Fortinet on the Cloud WAF to help identify and protect against zero-day attacks. This requires a combination of different security controls so we have integrated positive and negative security policies to provide the best web application security we can. The Cloud WAF blocks threats in real time from code-based vulnerabilities without blocking legitimate users or generating false positives that can drive administrative overhead.
Web application security offers the ability to bring new features and enhancements to the market quickly in the knowledge they will meet standard security standards. It is also good in the Covid-19 world because there’s a lot of remote working and some applications are being pushed to the web. New applications are being bought off the shelf without taking much note of the security side of things so it’s a good way of enforcing standards. Additionally, the Cloud WAF can also block users based on location.
Bots are essentially automated analysis of websites. Malicious bots are the things that pose problems in our industry such as odds scraping. Bots can generate quite a lot of traffic and serving that traffic unnecessarily costs money as well as the issue of having your IP being used elsewhere.
However, there is a lot of legitimate bots such as search engine bots and chat bots that are welcomed by site owners as they increase search engine optimisation and index the web. Therefore, we need to be sure to identify good bots from bad ones. Bot deception builds a honeypot trap which essentially helps identify these bots as they come in. The Cloud WAF provides the tools to differentiate bots using biometrics alongside keyboard and mouse movement to identify a human interaction from automation.
In an increasingly connected world, protection is about more than just client server interaction. APIs provide a standard in which applications talk to one another. As soon as you start to open up information, open up APIs on an application on a network and integrate with other partners (which is seen a lot in our industry), it opens up what we call the ‘attack surface area’. The more this is open, the more vulnerable one is. However, we recognise companies need to open up in order to benefit from the flexibility of integration.
APIs can work from anything – even between apps on a mobile phone which connect back to a server. With the Cloud WAF, we have hardened this API communication and can protect through a variety of different security code controls. We can even put in request limits to limit the interaction with the API and ensure it adheres to either custom or open API specific schema files. This works for both B2B and B2C companies and ensures security of integration.
In our business ensuring one is protected against these types of vulnerabilities is critical. Any business with an online presence can be exploited and the more businesses align, the greater the aforementioned attack surface area. If you generate revenue from a website or mobile phone app, it is even more imperative you are protecting the infrastructure as best as possible. However, it is not all about protecting money.
If you are under attack, it can slow down your website and send you offline similar to a DDoS attack. You might not even notice you’re under attack and an attacker can gain access to the site, deface it by putting up their own content or simply replicating their website. Worse still, attackers can syphon off customer details, encrypt whole file servers and online estate then ask for a ransom to unencrypt and give the data back.
These types of events occur often. As well as the obvious questions of ‘can companies actually recover from this sort of breach? Can companies keep their reputation and customer loyalty after an event like this?’, you also have to take into consideration further remedial costs as attacked companies then need to ensure they’re hardened against a repeat attack. Not protecting oneself sufficiently has the potential to wipe businesses off the map and there’s been many high-profile cases we’ve all seen through the media testament to this.
We wanted to expand our security portfolio and build upon the success of our DDoS services. We’re in a specialised industry and we’ve got colocation in specific locations relevant to the industry we serve. We wanted to get a solution that would fit into this mix. We recognise our customers are online businesses. Given this is where they make their money it is also their greatest asset to protect. We wanted to move further up the stack and offer security for web applications as well.
We originally intended to build Cloud WAF ourselves but quickly realised the platform is nothing without the signature detection algorithms offered by experienced specialised security firms. We scanned the market and found very few solutions that actually fit the bill. Most companies were looking for referrals or things of that nature but wouldn’t actually work with us to build the infrastructure. Fortinet have a public cloud offering which has proven successful in AWS and various other public clouds, so they offered to work with us to develop a similar solution we can deploy globally across our own estate. This was a key factor. We want our customers to benefit from the performance that can be gained by having the Cloud WAF hosting their infrastructure.
Now its deployed, we are working closely with Fortinet, relying on their expertise and over 40 labs whose research teams analyse security events. Like Continent 8, Fortinet have been established for over 20 years but they analyse 100 billion security events every day. If we were to build Cloud WAF ourselves, we just wouldn’t be able to match their expertise. Fortinet have been integral in the design and build of the Cloud WAF.
There are conversations open with Fortinet concerning various problems we want solving but there is nothing specific at the moment. In our secure family of products, we are looking to further expand capabilities into professional services and the managed service space – we will be publicising more about this in the new year. Furthermore, we are going to add native container support imminently to the public cloud and are developing partnerships with a number of hyperscale cloud providers.
Continent 8 is committed to delivering service around the world, and Latin America is a new growing market that presents many opportunities for us. Future customers want a customised service for their needs, from an experienced IT company.
While UK iGaming Companies are dealing with Brexit, and US-based companies are going through state-by-state regulations, Latin America seems to be a much more approachable land of opportunities for iGaming business owners, and Continent 8 wants to be there to provide its knowledge and the best IT infrastructure.
With its 650 million inhabitants, and its unrivalled passion for sports, increasing mobile phone ownership, developing mobile-internet connectivity, combined with an ongoing movement for a more flexible online gambling regulatory framework are all proving that the Latin American iGaming market is definitely growing at a speedy rate.
Latin America is comprised of 20 countries and 13 dependencies, and it gets even more complicated when you include anglophone and Dutch-speaking countries. Each country has its own preferred languages, unique gambling and betting culture, and specific sets of laws for the gambling industry. Countries which are considered to be the most active countries for gambling in Latin America are Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.
For those looking to target customers in this region, it is important to make strategic decisions through elaborate research and an understanding of the diversity of the countries. That is why, before stepping into the Latin American market, it is crucial that you analyse key information such as the market sizes, rules and regulations, gambling interests, popular sports, technological advancement, and language variations.
Colombia is considered the forerunner of the Latin American iGaming market. It is also the first Latin American country to approve a regulated online gambling market in late 2016, and it’s still the only fully regulated online gambling market in Latin America. Continent 8 will be able to deliver services to several countries from Colombia due to its strategic location in the region.
Source: G3 Magazine
Learn more about our Cloud WAF product
Read about our expansion into LATAM here
By Justin Cosnett, CPO, Continent 8 Technologies
The so-called ‘new normal’ of remote interaction has resulted in millions more consumer IOT devices creating vulnerable interfaces that are ripe for exploitation by cyber criminals.
During the first few months of the pandemic, Continent 8 saw evidence on our own networks of significant growth in legitimate traffic to iGaming providers. There was a corresponding rise (compared with previous years) in the growth-rate of DDoS attack volume, complexity and frequency. While this rapid growth in traffic was something that needed close monitoring it didn’t really cause the same problems for iGaming as it may have done for other industries. The iGaming industry is one of the most frequently targeted by cyber criminals, so many of our customers are very used to dealing with ‘spikes’ and exponential growth in attacks across several fronts – and that meant the sector generally weathered the storm because robust systems were already in place to deal with it.
In this context we could be forgiven for thinking that we don’t need to do much more to combat increased threats to cope with the ‘new normal’, but the reality is that our ‘post-pandemic’ world will need to break down some of the traditional barriers between ‘corporate IT’ and ‘consumer systems’, as well as addressing the potential impact of consumer-based cybercrime.
Most of our customers will have received formal user InfoSec training, predominantly highlighting that ‘people’ are the weakest part of any secure system. We teach people about dealing with suspicious emails, tailgating awareness, password policies, ‘BYOD’ policy and so-on. All great ‘in a work context’. But many people are now in a mixed home/work context and they aren’t necessarily used to applying those same principals in their home environment.
Due to pressures IT departments may be using their own home devices to access their work systems. How many of those companies’ administrators made ‘minor’ exceptions to the VPN or other infrastructure policies to get them up and running quickly?
It has been widely reported recently that phishing attacks and other scams, targeted to exploit our natural human fears, have increased significantly during the pandemic. A major source of threat to consider, in the wake of the global pandemic, is a new type of insider threat. Not the type of ‘insider threat’ the we learn about in our infosec training (i.e. the sysadmin that got annoyed with their boss), but the innocent employee that has completed all their cyber-security training and follows company policy, but happens to be using their own computer at home for remote access and clicked a link in an official-looking email and now has someone watching their every move on the corporate network.
How do we respond? There’s certainly a technical element to it. Modern developments in intruder detection and prevention systems using machine learning to detect anomalies will be invaluable. Of course, forcing ‘compliance’ on endpoint devices, in terms of AV and Malware protection is a must, as is (if possible) re-tightening any of those ‘temporary’ weaknesses that were deployed by well-meaning IT departments to meet company recovery time targets. Better sharing of intelligence and policy data across our ‘corporate’ and ‘customer-facing’ systems will also help.
However, by far the biggest thing to address is one of user education in this ‘new normal’. The boundaries of work and home are now merged for millions worldwide and the iGaming industry is affected by this as well as many other businesses. The nature of our industry makes us a high-value target for bad actors and therefore our people are also high-value targets. We must help our people understand how to extend the same principals of ‘good practice’ to their personal internet-enabled lives and remember while doing so that not all of them are iGaming wizards with a computer science degree.
The days when we could control our cyber-risk by neatly defined network edges, tight computer policies and encryption, have now passed, and our user training needs to become more than just a tick box for compliance.
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