Global Gaming and Entertainment Web Site Wins Greater Security with Novell

Novell today announced one of the world's leading providers of online gaming and entertainment has selected Novell to secure its IT infrastructure and enforce compliance mandates. The bwin Group has millions of users for its betting, poker, casino and games offered over the Internet and other digital distribution channels. Using Novell's security and information management solution Novell® Sentinel™, bwin can now automatically detect threats to user data and meet the stringent auditing requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

“As one of Europe's largest online betting sites, we process thousands of secure financial transactions each day,” said Oliver Eckel, head of Corporate Security at bwin Interactive Entertainment AG. “Security is very important to bwin, as it protects our status as a trusted payment card processor and demonstrates to customers that we place the highest possible emphasis on safeguarding their financial data. Novell Sentinel gives us all the tools we need to reduce the time involved in meeting PCI-DSS compliance requirements, proactively defend against security threats, and centralize network security monitoring and reporting.”

With millions of customers, thousands of internal users and hundreds of applications and databases, bwin was spending significant time and effort compiling reports for the PCI-DSS, which requires retailers to meet a detailed set of data security requirements to comply with their payment card company contracts. Among other requirements, the most recent PCI-DSS specification calls on payment card processors to maintain a secure network, protect stored card holder data, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test networks and maintain a comprehensive information security policy. To reduce the cost and effort of compliance and improve security reporting, bwin needed an automated, centralized solution for monitoring and managing multiple security log files.

Working with Novell Austrian partner Verizon Business, bwin has deployed Novell Sentinel across its entire payment infrastructure, replacing the manual, department-led monitoring of distinct network elements with an automated, enterprise-wide solution for real-time monitoring and reporting of security issues, managed from a single point of control. In addition to improving security metrics, Sentinel is reducing administrative and compliance costs by releasing departmental staff from manual monitoring duties. Implemented currently across the data centers of its global subsidiaries, bwin plans to extend the scope of its security information and event monitoring to all corporate systems.

“As a high-profile company processing large volumes of card payments, bwin is an attractive target for increasingly sophisticated online fraudsters,” said Jim Ebzery, senior vice president and general manager of Identity and Security at Novell. “By using Novell Sentinel to centralize and automate its network security monitoring and reporting capabilities, bwin has strengthened its protection against intrusion. Most important, we have helped them simplify the process of security reporting, enabling bwin to more easily prove compliance with the PCI-DSS.”