In the iGaming industry, trust is everything – not just for players, but for the entire ecosystem of operators, suppliers, and technology providers. Players expect seamless experiences, secure transactions, and confidence that their personal data is protected. At the same time, suppliers and platform partners demand robust cybersecurity standards and transparent risk management to safeguard their own systems and reputations. Yet, as the sector grows – driven by new markets, mobile-first platforms, and real-time betting – the attack surface expands exponentially. Cybercriminals have noticed. From ransomware groups to phishing campaigns, the industry is now a prime target for sophisticated attacks that exploit both technology and human behaviour.
Recent analysis shows a 400% surge in cyber incidents impacting casino operators and gambling businesses since early 2025. The cost of downtime during a major sporting event can exceed $6,000 per minute, and phishing attacks have grown by 180% since 2023. These numbers underscore a stark reality: the iGaming ecosystem is under siege.
The past year has been a wake-up call for the industry. In July 2025, Flutter Entertainment, owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, confirmed a breach affecting up to 800,000 users, exposing personal data such as IP addresses and betting activity. In March, Merkur Group, a major European casino operator, suffered a catastrophic incident that compromised sensitive data across multiple platforms, including payment details, identity verification documents, and over 70,000 ID scans, all due to misconfigured backend interfaces. Beyond data theft, account takeover attacks surged by 42% in Q1 2025, with one European betting platform losing €1.7 million in just 48 hours before detection. These examples illustrate a clear trend: attackers are exploiting both technical vulnerabilities and human factors, and the financial and reputational stakes have never been higher.
Why is the industry a target? Because it offers two things that attackers value most – money and data. Every payment gateway, affiliate integration, and game studio aggregation introduces new vulnerabilities. Add to this the complexity of real-time transaction engines, regulatory reporting systems, and third-party content providers, and you have an environment where a single weak link can compromise the entire chain.
Now that I have set the scene, here’s what I believe will shape cybersecurity in iGaming in 2026.
Artificial Intelligence is the double-edged sword of cybersecurity. In 2026, expect AI-driven attacks – deepfakes, automated intrusions, and identity-centric exploits – to become mainstream.
On the defensive side, AI will power advanced threat hunting, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics. Operators will deploy machine learning models to identify fraudulent transactions in real time and detect behavioural anomalies before they escalate. But securing AI itself will be critical as attackers are already targeting AI systems to turn them into insider threats.
Cybersecurity will move from being a compliance checkbox to a strategic KPI. This is a welcome shift for the industry. Regulators are demanding real-time, machine-readable compliance data, while players increasingly view security as part of the user experience. Seamless onboarding, frictionless withdrawals, and transparent data handling will become loyalty drivers.
The complexity of today’s threat landscape means no single operator can fight alone. Intelligence sharing will become the cornerstone of industry-wide defence. This is where Continent 8’s Threat Exchange sets a new benchmark.
Launched in late 2025, Threat Exchange is the industry’s first dedicated cyber threat intelligence (CTI) platform, engineered specifically for iGaming and online sports betting. It processes billions of signals daily, delivering real-time, actionable insights to operators, platform providers, and regulators.
Key capabilities include:
As I often say, “Threat Exchange is changing the game.” By leveraging our position as the industry’s trusted cybersecurity and hosting partner, we transform vast datasets into clear, actionable intelligence. This isn’t just about detecting threats – it’s about anticipating them and enabling proactive resilience.
Jurisdictions from Brazil to Finland are introducing competitive licensing models, while established markets like the UK are tightening advertising and security requirements. Compliance will increasingly rely on API-driven automation, enabling operators to feed regulators real-time data on transactions, safer gambling measures, and incident response.
To thrive in this environment, operators should:
Cybersecurity in iGaming is no longer about reacting to incidents – it’s about anticipating them. Those who harness intelligence, embrace collaboration, and embed security into every layer of their operations will not only survive but lead.
For more information on how Continent 8 can support your initiatives, email sales@continent.com or fill out our Contact Us page.
As we approach the end of 2025, Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer, has been reflecting on what has been an extraordinary year for Continent 8 Technologies. Our mission to deliver secure, innovative, and customer-focused solutions has never been more important, and this year we’ve achieved milestones that truly set us apart. From expanding our global footprint to driving cutting-edge cloud and cybersecurity solutions, 2025 has been a year of recognition and success.
We were proud to be a double winner at the 2025 Baltic & Scandinavian Gaming Awards during the MARE BALTICUM Gaming & TECH Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, taking home:
And that’s not all – Continent 8 was also named Data Centre and Cloud System Provider of the Year at the prestigious EGR B2B Awards, cementing our position as a trusted leader in the industry.
Here are eight standout moments that defined our journey in 2025.
Cybersecurity is at the heart of everything we do. This year, we launched the Continent 8 Threat Exchange, a collaborative platform that empowers customers to share threat intelligence and strengthen defences against evolving attacks. It’s a game-changer for proactive security.
As Patrick Gardner, our Chief Security Officer, said: “The Threat Exchange is a one-of-a-kind initiative for our industry. It gives customers the ability to collaborate and act on real-time intelligence, creating a stronger, united defence against cyber threats.”
In April, we hosted our annual Customer Advisory Board in Ireland, bringing together our trusted customers and partners. The event is designed to share insights and help shape the future of our services. These conversations are invaluable – they ensure we remain aligned with customer needs and market trends.
A proud moment for all of us was seeing our Founder and CEO, Michael Tobin, receive major industry recognition, ranking among the top global tech leaders in GamblingIQ’s Trusted 10 list. His vision and leadership continue to inspire our team and drive innovation across the business.
GamblingIQ’s commentary on Michael mentioned: “Michael Tobin has become one of the defining figures in iGaming infrastructure… In an industry often chasing the next big thing, Tobin embodies the kind of leadership that prioritises stability and sustainable growth without losing sight of innovation.”
We successfully migrated Sportingtech from a VMware-based environment to a Nutanix AHV hyperconverged infrastructure, delivering enhanced scalability, resilience, and compliance. This strategic move helped Sportingtech avoid a 42% increase in virtualisation costs following VMware licensing changes.
The cloud migration was no small feat:
Read the full case study here
Knowledge sharing is key to progress. This year, we launched the Ask The Expert podcast series, offering insights from specialists on topics like iGaming infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud strategy, and compliance. We have welcomed guest speakers from AWS, Sportingtech and Nutanix. It’s become a valuable resource for the industry.
All the episodes can be viewed here
You can expect more episodes in 2026!
Our partnership with Alea went beyond technical collaboration – it became a platform for driving industry-wide awareness of the importance of cybersecurity for gaming. Alea, one of the fastest-growing iGaming aggregators, handles over 21,000 transactions per second and connects operators to 16,000+ games from 160 providers via a single API. Securing this scale of operations is critical, and together we’ve raised the bar for cybersecurity standards in the sector.
This collaboration was showcased at SBC Summit Lisbon, where we hosted a press conference to emphasise proactive security measures for operators and suppliers.
Security layers matter. We rolled out our MFA solution, adding an extra level of protection for customer environments and reinforcing our commitment to safeguarding critical systems. It also ensures regulatory compliance across iGaming jurisdictions and markets.
Continent 8’s one-step login solution, powered by MIRACL, has a proven success rate of 99.9%, taking on average just two seconds to login. It is also designed to reduce an organisation’s support costs.
We have recently signed a major US operator (more on that news soon!) and expect to announce some exciting partnerships in 2026.
We achieved ISO 50001 certification, demonstrating our dedication to energy efficiency and sustainability across our global data centre operations. This is an important step toward a greener future.
Michael Tobin said: “Achieving ISO 50001 certification is a significant step in our commitment to sustainability, and I’d like to congratulate all involved in this accomplishment. This certification ensures that our organisation is responsible for continuously enhancing our energy management system and implementing objective and best practices for energy efficiency.”
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2025 has been a year of innovation, collaboration, and growth. I want to thank our customers, partners, and the incredible Continent 8 team for making these achievements possible. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain committed to delivering secure, resilient, and forward-thinking solutions for the industry.
As the iGaming and online sports betting industry faces increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, Continent 8 is proud to launch Threat Exchange – the sector’s first dedicated cyber threat intelligence (CTI) platform.
Below, we answer some of the most pressing questions regarding the solution and how it is tailored for incident response teams, operators, platform providers, B2B gaming technology companies and regulators.
A cyber threat intelligence (CTI) platform collects, analyses and shares information about current and emerging cyber threats to help organisations anticipate, detect and respond to attacks more effectively. It typically includes:
CTI platforms are essential for building a proactive security posture, especially in high-risk industries like iGaming and online sports betting.
Threat Exchange is a managed cyber threat intelligence platform designed specifically for the iGaming and online sports betting industry. It delivers real-time, sector-specific insights to help incident response teams, operators, platform providers, B2B gaming technology companies and regulators detect and share information on emerging threats, sharpen awareness and act with confidence.
Unlike generic CTI solutions, Threat Exchange is purpose-built for iGaming. It leverages Continent 8’s and C8 Secure’s unique position as both an internet service provider (ISP) and managed security service provider (MSSP) in the industry, offering exclusive intelligence, real-time threat correlation and honeypot-driven insights tailored to gaming environments.
Threat Exchange addresses the following critical challenges:
Cyber Threat Exchange’s key features include:
Whether you’re protecting high-value player accounts, monitoring threats during major sporting events or securing gaming APIs, Threat Exchange is designed to meet the needs of the industry. The solution is suitable for:
Threat Exchange offers several tiers, from a community tier with basic access to advanced tiers with predictive analytics and premium add-ons. Each tier is designed to meet different operational needs and cybersecurity maturity levels.
It’s important that businesses take a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity to ensure full protection. Add-on services include:
We’re excited for the launch but we’re already looking to the future. Developments include:
Contact your Continent 8 account manager or visit Threat Exchange to request a demo, explore pricing tiers and see how Threat Exchange can elevate your cybersecurity posture.
The sector-specific platform equips iGaming and online sports betting operators, platform providers and B2B gaming technology companies with real-time insights to stay ahead of cyber threats
Continent 8 Technologies, a leading provider of cutting-edge managed IT solutions designed for the global iGaming and online sports betting industry, introduces Threat Exchange – the industry’s first dedicated cyber threat intelligence (CTI) platform. This game-changing solution equips incident response teams, operators, platform providers, B2B gaming technology companies and regulators with actionable, real-time intelligence to proactively detect and share information on emerging threats, enhance incident response and deepen understanding of the threat landscape.
The iGaming and online sports betting industry: a prime target for cyber threats
The iGaming sector remains a primary target for cyber attacks, driven by the substantial volume of financial transactions and high-value customer data – recent analysis reveals a surge of over 400% in cyber incidents impacting both online and land-based casino operators since February 2025. Today’s critical cybersecurity challenge is the ability to efficiently manage and analyse large-scale, complex datasets to detect and correlate emerging, sector-specific threats in real time. Threat Exchange directly addresses these requirements with a dedicated CTI platform engineered to:
Patrick Gardner, Chief Security Officer at Continent 8 said: “Threat Exchange is changing the game, providing unrivalled visibility into the behaviours and tactics of threat actors. Leveraging our position as the industry’s cybersecurity partner, we are able to analyse vast and complex datasets and deliver the results in a clear, actionable format. Customers have consistently asked for greater intelligence and deeper analysis, and Threat Exchange is our response – a purpose-built solution designed to meet the unique security challenges of the iGaming and online sports betting industry.”
Continent 8 will be exhibiting at G2E Las Vegas, from 7-9 October at Booth 4235. To schedule a demo of Threat Exchange at the show, please visit https://lp.continent8.com/global-gaming-expo-2025.