Probably one of the primary concerns of newcomers to the net. who are curious to try out online Bingo for themselves, is the issue of security. Particularly in the early days of public interest in the Internet, there were plenty of scare stories about users’ details being ‘hijacked’ by nefarious people as they were sent voluntarily to an intended online destination. But the truth is that the World Wide Web wasn’t quite the Wild West populated by online outlaws that the traditional media wanted to portray, and that legitimate online businesses were quick to make issues of privacy and security paramount in order to survive. The logic was clear; if customers didn’t feel safe about transacting online, online business was dead in the virtual water.
Online gaming like Internet Bingo was one area where success was dependent on customers being able to deposit and withdraw money into online accounts over the Internet with ease and with absolute confidence that the account was secure from prying eyes and greedy fingers. (Can you imagine playing online Bingo where you send your money by traditional post to the company’s HQ, say in Gibraltar, to buy your tickets? No, neither can we!)
It is now a well-established process that, to play online Bingo for real money, players register with their chosen online Bingo site to create a unique, personal account and then place money into that account via a number of payment options. Deposited money can then be used to buy tickets for Bingo games or to play any of the alternative betting games the site might offer, for example Slots. The player’s account is also where any winnings and bonus payments are credited by the online Bingo hall.
The very best online Bingo halls, such as those listed here at NoDepositBingo.co.uk, attract thousands of members and each one will have their own secure account. So how do online Bingo halls ensure those thousands of account details, and all the money transactions to and from them all day and every day are safe and secure? After all, if someone were able to access the database holding these members details they could potentially harvest a vast number of credit/ debit card details and other personal details useful to commit fraud.
Happily the online Bingo halls we list employ a number of security features that have been designed and tested to ensure there can be no unauthorized access to the sensitive customer data they hold, or interception of data between them and a registered member. Central to this is the 128 bit secure socket layer (SSL) encryption software used between the Bingo operator, its customers and its customers’ banks. If SSL and 128 bit means nothing to you, don’t worry – the technology works behind the scenes and is invisible to the user other than showing a lock or padlock on the user’s Internet browser programme to indicate a secure link to the website on the screen. It is also a highly complex encryption that is effectively impossible to crack without huge amounts of time and simply vast amounts of computing power i.e. it would require resources beyond the reach of criminals.
Beyond use of such high-level encryption protocols, online Bingo halls typically use separate, secure computer servers to store members’ personal data, and will also track IP addresses (the ‘identity’ of a computer that has accessed the Bingo site) to ensure only its members access the account registered in their name. Another common security measure is for online Bingo halls only to store the first or last four digits of a members credit / debit card number on its database.
Such measures make playing the reputable online Bingo halls NoDepositBingo.co.uk features incredibly safe. However there is one weak link in the chain that should be noted – You! Yes, for all the rock-solid security put in place by online Bingo operators, if you are not equally careful about protecting your data it’s the equivalent of going on holiday leaving your keys in the front door lock (and possibly with a flashing neon sign saying ‘Please Rob Me!’ in the window). Creating an account with an online Bingo hall requires a member to choose a username and password, which they then use to log in to that account. By all means make a note of those details but do not keep them somewhere obvious, where someone can easily read them, or annotated to make it blindingly obvious what they access (e.g. ‘My Bingo Bliss online account details’). Also choose a password that’s easy to remember but not easy for someone who knows you to guess, such as your pet’s name or daughter’s birthday. A good trick for passwords is to choose a well-known phrase or quote, then break it down to initial letters and substitute numbers for words where possible. For example, the Shakespearean quote ‘To Be Or Not To Be That Is The Question’ becomes the obscure password 2BON2BTITQ. Easy to do, easy to remember and much more secure!
Enjoy your online Bingo and play safe by following our tips above and also choosing a reputable operator such as those reviewed and approved by NoDepositBingo.co.uk.
