With the help of the Internet, we can easily perform day to day tasks, like paying off credit card balances or ordering takeout, from the comfort of our own homes in a streamlined and efficient way. But when we divulge our personal and financial information to a company online we take a risk, however small, that our details could be accessed by hackers or used for fraudulent activity.
The good news is that all legal NJ online casinos are highly regulated and protect your data using the same level of encryption technology you would find at sites like Amazon, PayPal or Apple. In fact, the companies which provide these services are thoroughly vetted by the Division of Gaming Enforcement before they are allowed to handle any iGaming transactions in the state.
In addition, each NJ gaming site boasts a secure HTTPS connection, which ensures that hackers can’t break into the conversation between your browser and the website and view sensitive information.
While your data is closely guarded by NJ casinos, there are several further measures you can take to make sure that no one accesses your gaming account unauthorized. Below we’ll go through a few basic guidelines you can use to completely lock down your account and keep all of your information completely private.
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Create Unique Passphrases
In recent years, it has become increasingly common for large companies (e.g. Target, Anthem and Sony) to fall victim to cyber-attacks in which massive amounts of customer data is stolen. But acts like these are usually committed by sophisticated operators, sometimes with the backing of a nation-state, who have little interest in targeting the average Internet user.
Usually the Threat is Someone You Know
The more likely risk for the majority of us would involve our coworkers, exes, enemies and other acquaintances somehow cracking our passwords and doing us harm with the info they find. What’s worse, if you use the same password across all of your online accounts, an attacker can gain access to several at a time and make your life miserable in the process.
Length, Randomness Key in Password Selection
This is why it’s important to use long, unique passwords for each gaming site where you hold an account. This doesn’t mean that you’ll need to remember complicated strings of random text and characters, however. In general, the length of your password is more important than the actual letters used in it. Of course, you shouldn’t be using obvious strings like “123456789…” or “password123…”.
Security experts recommend creating a passphrase of 15+ characters which you can easily remember, but using words which normally wouldn’t be paired together. Adding capitals, blank spaces and numbers to the phrases can make them even stronger. You can even use the name the actual website in the password to differentiate it from different sites.
For example, your passphrase could be something like “Sun Dog FnDuel” at FanDuel Casino or “Car 78-Rsorts” at Resorts Casino. Those two passwords would take 66 million years and 47 million years to crack using current technology respectively. You can test the strength of your own passwords here.
During the sign-up process, NJ online casinos guide users to create relatively strong passwords by requiring them to be between 8-12 characters in length and to contain at least one letter, one number and one special character. Some do not allow blank spaces or commas, however.
Best Option: Use a Password Manager
An even better option than trying to think up long, random passwords is to simply generate your passwords randomly and store them in a vault.
Trying to commit all those passwords to memory or plastering post it notes all over your computer screen can be difficult-to-impossible when you have a significant online presence. Instead, we recommend using a password manager like LastPass or 1Password. These apps are essentially vaults for your online passwords which you can easily access across a variety of devices and browsers with a single login.
They work like this: When you first open your browser, you’ll be prompted to enter your main login one time to unlock your vault. Then, when you visit websites where you have an account, your username and password will be populated automatically, allowing you to login quickly and with no hassle.
Even better, password managers can generate random, highly secure passwords for you automatically, removing the need for you to make any decisions at all. And while it’s true that all of your credentials will be stored in the cloud, these services are secured by heavy-duty encryption which ensures that passwords cannot be viewed by anyone other than you.
Opt for Strong Authentication
When creating your iGaming account, the majority of NJ online gambling sites require you to choose a couple of security questions and provide answers to them. These can ask things like your mother’s maiden name or your first pet’s name, for example.
We recommend that you choose an answer which is only known to you, not something someone can find out by doing some snooping. If you want to be even more careful, you can answer the questions with totally unrelated responses, although you run a higher risk of forgetting the answers in the future.
Once you’ve gotten your security questions filled out, make sure you opt for Strong Authentication. The majority of NJ gaming sites offer this feature, which requires you to answer extra questions each time you log into your account. Not all sites use security questions during the Strong Authentication process. Tropicana and Virgin require the last four digits of your Social Security number and your ZIP Code, while 888 emails you a token which you must input when logging in. The option can be activated in your account settings.
Get Login Notifications
To add another ring of protection around your account, be sure and tick the option to receive notifications of each login attempt. This way, if someone tries to access your account without your permission you will be notified by email and can take action appropriately.
Log Out When You’re Finished
Even though NJ gambling websites will log you out automatically after a certain period of inactivity, you should go ahead and log out manually as soon as you’re finished with a gaming session. This way, passersby won’t be tempted to take up where you left off or make unauthorized transactions.
Beware of Phishing Attempts
Through a method called phishing, attackers send phony yet official looking emails which include links pointing to fake login pages for services you might use. For example, you could receive an email purporting to be from PayPal which asks you to click a link and enter your account details for one reason or another.
Once you click that link, you’ll be taken to a login page which looks like a real PayPal page, but is in reality set up to steal your login details. While there haven’t been any reports of phishing attempts targeting NJ online gamblers, it is something to be vigilant for.
Regulated online casinos will not send you an email asking you to click a link and “confirm your details” or “verify your identity” by entering your login and password. If you are ever in doubt, type in the website address yourself and log into your account. From there you can contact support, if necessary to ensure that the request is legitimate.
Conclusion
NJ licensed online casinos keep your personal and financial information safe using the same modern security features leveraged by the web’s biggest banks and retailers. Even so, there are steps you can take to further ensure that your online gambling account is never compromised.
Long passphrases can make your password nearly impossible to crack, and password managers can make the sign in process even easier and more secure. Coupled with the additional security of login notifications and strong authentication, the security suggestions above can go a long way toward preventing a potential disaster.
