Viewpoint: Insurance, Cyber Security Are Twin Pillars of Resilience for iGaming Industry
Viewpoint: Insurance, Cyber Security Are Twin Pillars of Resilience for iGaming Industry
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2026/07/09/876802.htm
Publish Date: 2026-07-09 06:40:00
Source Domain: www.insurancejournal.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
Executive summary: Once seen as niche, the iGaming, or the online gambling and sports betting industry, has come of age — now a regulated global market, expanding rapidly and attracting mainstream attention. In this article, Elizabeth Grima of the specialty Lloyd’s broker New Dawn Risk and Craig Lusher of the IT solutions company Continent 8 Technologies argue that resilience, trust and innovation will define the sector’s next phase of growth: with insurance and cyber protection as its twin pillars.
The iGaming industry has matured into a regulated global business, one of the fastest growing areas of the entertainment industry, home to listed companies and garnering mass mainstream recognition.
“Operators that embrace compliance and transparency will be well-positioned to thrive, and are most attractive to insurers.”
Regulators across Europe and beyond are tightening oversight, with recent European Court of Justice rulings highlighting inconsistencies in licensing and enforcement across EU member states. In the Netherlands, anti-competitive structures have drawn criticism, while other jurisdictions such as India and Brazil are also moving toward stricter frameworks. Far from being a brake on growth, this regulatory momentum signals maturity. Operators that embrace compliance and transparency will be well-positioned to thrive, and are most attractive to insurers.
Unlicensed operators, by contrast, continue to exist alongside regulated markets, remaining a stubborn presence. Operating with fewer restrictions, including licensing requirements such as KYC (know-your-customer checks), AML (anti–money laundering controls), affordability assessments, or ongoing regulatory reporting, they also benefit from avoiding licensing fees, taxes, compliance overheads, and in many cases advertising restrictions. This allows them to offer aggressive bonuses and higher payout ratios features that can attract users despite the risks.
Their continued presence underscores why licensed operators matter. Unregulated operators are not subject to enforcement parity across jurisdictions, which can lead to consumer harm and reputational damage to the wider sector. They also sit outside formal insurance eligibility altogether: insurers will only underwrite licensed operators that meet minimum governance and compliance standards.
As a result, the growth of unlicensed activity reinforces—not weakens—the value proposition of regulated businesses, which demonstrate consumer protection and accountability. For insurers in particular, it creates a clear dividing line: only compliant, well-governed operators are considered insurable and worth backing.
Insurance Appetite Is Shifting
For years, iGaming was seen as a difficult and, at times, controversial sector for insurers to engage with. Much like tobacco or other so-called taboo industries, it was often associated with reputational sensitivity and moral hazard concerns that deterred underwriters.
In practice, those concerns stemmed less from gambling itself and more from how the industry was perceived; high-volume transactional behavior, black market activity, and the potential for consumer harm (particularly around problem gambling and addiction) all raised questions about whether risks were adequately controlled. That picture is changing. Specialist brokers are working with insurers to carve out tailored coverage, and capacity in London is expanding.
Cyber liability, technology errors and omissions, directors’ and officers’ liability, general liability, and intellectual property protection are now available. Appetite may still be cautious, but the trajectory is positive, with underwriters becoming more openminded towards iGaming business and only writing specific risks. A new understanding of iGaming as a regulated, compliance-driven industry is helping reassure insurer shareholders and increase their comfort with the associated risks.
Another sign of progress is the sector’s embrace of sustainability and responsibility. While gaming companies were once dismissed as short-term ventures, today many are repositioning for efficiency and demonstrating long-term viability.
More broadly, insurers are increasingly factoring ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria and financial resilience into underwriting decisions, with shareholders viewing these as indicators of stability and lower risk. In iGaming, stronger ESG frameworks such as robust responsible gambling tools, clearer governance structures, effective risk management, and investment in community and player protection initiatives act as indicators of disciplined management. Taken together, these developments help reposition iGaming as a more predictable and insurable sector.
Cyber: The Frontline of Resilience
Cyber risk has become the frontline challenge for iGaming operators and suppliers. The sector’s reliance on technology integrations, high volume transactions and sensitive customer data makes it a magnet for cybercrime. Reports from Continent 8 highlight a 400% rise in incidents since early 2025, ranging from AI-driven deepfake fraud to phishing and supply chain vulnerabilities. Real-world cases underline the scale of the threat.
In August 2025, Bragg Gaming faced a breach of internal systems. Flutter’s, Paddy Power and Betfair brands saw customer accounts targeted back in July 2025. And a troubling trend of “credential stuffing” attacks exploiting stolen data continue to rise. For operators, cyber resilience is now a strategic imperative, demanded by regulators, investors and insurers alike.
No security program, however well resourced, can eliminate risk entirely. Operators can deploy firewalls, endpoint protection, threat intelligence and round-the-clock monitoring, but sophisticated attackers will continue to find ways through. Accepting that some residual risk will always remain is not a failure of security strategy; it is a realistic acknowledgement of the threat environment.
Insurance as Safety Net
“Much of the hesitation around insuring iGaming stems from perception rather than reality, with many insurers wrongly associating the sector with black market activity.”
This is precisely where insurance becomes essential, acting as a financial safety net that absorbs the impact when preventive controls are bypassed. Rather than viewing insurance and cyber security as separate disciplines, forward thinking iGaming operators treat them as complementary: one reduces the likelihood of an incident, the other limits the damage when one occurs.
Insurance and cyber security are not optional add-ons; they are fundamental to the sector’s long-term success. Together, they provide the financial and operational resilience demanded by regulators, investors and customers.
Much of the hesitation around insuring iGaming stems from perception rather than reality, with many insurers wrongly associating the sector with black market activity. The risks faced by operators are comparable to those in other regulated industries. What matters is the ability to understand exposures, tailor coverage appropriately, and embed cyber resilience into operations. This is an essential part of the role of an insurance broker: to help insurers understand the risks in question and develop products in line with demand.
Trust, Resilience, Innovation
The future of iGaming will not be defined by stigma or regulatory uncertainty, but by trust, resilience and innovation. Insurance and cyber security are central to this journey, protecting the industry’s greatest assets and reducing uncertainty associated with the sector. For insurers and brokers, the focus should be on partnering with licensed iGaming operators to understand the evolving risks, strengthen resilience, and develop a clear roadmap for the sector’s long-term success and stability.
Topics
Cyber
