Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming March 2015 32 Since its inception in 1989, Gaming Laboratories International has sought to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders in the gaming industry— players, operators, governments, regulators and suppliers. In keeping with that mission, the company’s biggest growth area in recent years has been assessing the security and robustness of clients’ computer systems Securing the Lines T hough best-known as the world leader in testing and certifying gaming machines and systems, Gaming Laboratories International does a lot more than that. Its Global Professional Services division offers, in the company’s words, “a wide range of information security services to gaming and non-gaming companies, from audits and training to the application of new processes and ultimately certifications”. The IT and Internet security assessments are especially popular, given the need for companies to ensure they are able to withstand an ever-expanding variety of threats. “We started to do it about three years ago on a smaller, on-demand scale, but the demand for it has surged by tenfold. Everybody’s asking for it,” says Ian Hughes, the company’s vice president of Global Services. The security assessments include what are known as Information Systems Security audits. “ISS is used by the banking industry and a lot of other industries, and there are standards for ISS,” Mr Hughes explains. The audits are carried out by a team of security assessment experts. “That team is growing by about 300% a year,” he adds. “It Ian Hughes , GLI’s vice president of Global Services . Cyber Security