Security an issue as Nevada delves into online gaming
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
With the state about a month away from granting its first online gambling license, two experts told members of the Gaming Policy Committee on Monday that regulators needed to stay vigilant in their efforts to keep the online gaming environment secure.
One of them hopes to take the security of Nevada’s potential Internet gambling industry to a new level by using grant money to develop a system that not only would protect gamblers’ online transactions but detect and prevent underage players and cheaters from playing.
Online security strategist James Elste, principal for INOV8V CyberCQRT, told the advisory committee that his company was one of 27 finalists out of 186 applicants for a federal grant through the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Up to eight grants are expected to be awarded in several aspects of cybersecurity.
Elste’s company is working on behalf of the state to get $2 million a year for two years to develop the gold standard for Internet gambling security.
Committee member Mark Lipparelli, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, said the state would demand the highest levels of security when regulators begin issuing licenses. Under regulations approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission, there’s no specific security standard in place since companies are using differing strategies to detect illegal play and participation.
However, applicants will have to prove to regulators that their systems will be able to identify players and prevent underage gamblers from playing and detect whether players are within the state’s borders.
As a former Surveillance Director for a Local Stateline Casino in Lake Tahoe, I have grave worries that there is no way the State of Nevada should have ever approved Online Gaming. Everyday underage Gamers get away with playing in Casino’s because of Casino employee’s not carding the subjects. Just a week ago while walking thru Harvey’s I watched an 8 yr old boy play a slot machine surrounded by family as 2 Harvey’s slot employee’s smiled and watched without saying a thing. Lets remember who created Facebook a bunch of College kids there is not the software available to stop Minor gaming, and Im not even going to get into the cheating aspect. Let us remember Card Counting is not illegal in Nevada , but the Casino’s dont want players to have that mathematical advantage on them so they are allowed to back them off a table. Whose gonna make the decision whether a player is counting or has great ability at basic strategy and money management. Is there software that will upload a person’s photo to see if they have been backed off around the state. And what cheat with any amount of intelligence is gonna give his correct id and photo. This is a disaster waiting to explode in the Nevada Casino’s faces.
THE INTERNET HAS MOVED TO CHANGE GAMBLING,JUST LIKE MOVIES,FROM PORN TO CHURCH MUSIC,WHEN ONE IN TE PRIVACY OF THEIR CASTLE WHO CARES WHO PUSHES THE BUTTONS?
IT WILL HAVE A VOID EFFECT ON FLOORS ACROSS THE NATION,SOFTWARE WILL TAKE MANY HUMAN JOBS STANDING THERE OFF THE BOOKS FOR INSURANCE,MEALS,UP KEEP.
THE MONEY WILL STILL END UP IN THE ELECTROINC VALTS OF THE WEBSITE CASINOS,THAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE.
IF and when sports books go online public, it be a huge draw from cell phones to ipads across the globe,ever watch a super bowl in London,you got stay up till dawn to see the results.
I know people right here in town that loved the option of placing bets to sports book have the pay off wired directly into the checking account with out leaving the house ,car,camp site, boat.This could go huge with monetary flow take the people right out the building.
48 states now have some form of legalized gaming. Time for Nevada to stop beating a dead horse and move (begrudgingly) into the future and divest itself from the “sin”dustries (by no means making a moral judgement, I could care less). That future is green technologies and education in green technologies.