Gambling Insider caught up with Fincore CEO Predrag Popovic to discuss cybersecurity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Can you give our readers an introduction into what Fincore does?

Fincore is a software and services provider, whose pedigree is in mission-critical transaction and data processing systems, used in complex, real-time environments, where not understanding your data carries a huge risk premium.

Our field of expertise stretches from investment banking systems, business process management through to various forms of gaming and big data.

In short, we create and support ground-breaking software that enables people to see more, understand more, innovate more, improve more and do more.

What advice would you give gaming firms regarding cybersecurity during the coronavirus pandemic? We've already seen some companies suffer cyber-attacks, notably SBTech.

The advice is not that different from your regular cybersecurity hygiene rules:

• make sure you know where your data is
• control who has access to it
• protect the access every step of the way

One place where the risk increases, and this is the case in the current situation, is where people are working from home.

How can gaming firms combat the added challenges of handling cybersecurity during remote working?

Ideally, people should only be connecting to work from company-issued equipment. Wherever possible and as much as possible, operators should ensure these remote workstations are regularly updated, that their employees use good antivirus/antimalware solutions, that company access rules limit access to only those servers/repositories required for a particular function; and that remote access, especially to third parties, is only used when needed.

Does Fincore conduct any ethical hacking campaigns to assess client cybersecurity?

While there are many benefits of using ethical hacking, we believe the decision on whether to use this strategy or not lies with the client.

How does the gaming sector compare to other industries, in terms of its ability to deal with cybersecurity threats?

There are not really too many differences between the gaming sector and other industries in terms of cyber-resilience. We are just another online retail industry, perhaps more exposed to a certain kind of threats, but not in a defining manner. In the end, it is all down to:

• data location awareness
• careful planning
• risk assessment
• adequate and timely budgeting for skilled professionals and proper tools