Austrian Lotteries Plays to Win as It Migrates to the Cloud
With a wide range of lottery games, casino experiences, and sports betting, Austrian Lotteries brings excitement and entertainment to millions. As the business modernizes its IT infrastructure and transitions to the cloud, F5 Distributed Cloud Services help it defeat cybercriminals and ensure regulatory compliance.
Business Challenge
In the fast-moving commercial gambling sector, Austrian Lotteries is playing to win. Delivering excitement and entertainment—from the thrill of scratching a lottery ticket to the adrenaline rush of online casino gaming—the company sets the standard for responsible gambling and player welfare, generating revenues of €665 million per year.
None of this happens by chance—especially the technology that powers the business. Over the years, Austrian Lotteries has assembled a robust IT environment that delivers innovative player experiences while protecting customers and the business against cyberattacks and organized crime eager to game the system.
As well as deflecting bad actors, the business must also abide by stringent regulations imposed by the Austrian government—everything from advertising to player welfare and anti-money-laundering processes. European Union regulations, including GDPR, which governs the security of personally identifiable information (PII), also apply. In addition, Austrian Lotteries owns the country’s only lottery license, which is due for renewal soon and will be subject to intense scrutiny as the deadline approaches.
Security is a common theme when it comes to protecting sensitive customer data and operating in a heavily regulated business environment. “From customer welfare to financial crime there is no room for error,” says Clemens Cordt, Team Lead for Network Infrastructure at Austrian Lotteries. “A single slip could damage our reputation and future in the gaming industry.”
Ongoing migration to the cloud increases complexity. As the company adopts a more efficient IT architecture, the threat environment also shifts. “From credential stuffing to DDoS attacks, we're facing a perfect storm,” explains Daniel Zenz, Solution Architect at Austrian Lotteries. “Our security solutions must be as agile as our business.”
Matters came to a head when a DDoS attack threatened to breach the organization’s existing web application firewall (WAF). Although the IT team repelled the attack, Zenz was determined to enhance his security measures. Topping his list was a WAF upgrade that would enable the business to address challenges from security to license renewal and cloud migration.
Solutions
While security was a priority for Austrian Lotteries, budgets were tight. In the drive to achieve both value and compliance, Zenz turned to longtime partner F5, which has supplied Austrian Lotteries with business-critical solutions for the past 15 years. This includes F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM), a major contributor to network performance that helps deliver a smooth, uninterrupted experience to Austrian Lotteries’ customers.
Conversations with the F5 team revealed that F5 Distributed Cloud Services offered the most value for the money and were ideally suited to a highly regulated business environment. F5 Distributed Cloud WAF was a revelation. "It was ridiculously easy to get started with F5 Distributed Cloud WAF,” says Cordt. “Within minutes, we had a proof of concept up and running.” In addition to securing apps across clouds, on-premises environments, and edge locations, the solution also impressed him with its mobile app security, which protects the organization’s rapidly growing smartphone audience.
Distributed Cloud Bot Defense is a game changer for Austrian Lotteries. Blocking malicious bots not only protects against credential stuffing, content scraping, and other threats, it also removes the need for CAPTCHA tests, which require customers to recognize images or manually enter text when logging on.
Another strength of Distributed Cloud Services is that Austrian Lotteries can add extra layers of defense as needed. Following this modular approach, the business deployed Distributed Cloud DDoS Mitigation, which provides an extra layer of security against unauthorized traffic. Distributed Cloud API Security is equally important, enabling Austrian Lotteries to automatically discover endpoints mapped to applications and monitor for anomalous behavior.
Looking further ahead, Distributed Cloud Network Connect will play a crucial role in managing an increasingly dispersed, hybrid, and multicloud environment. By providing a consistent security framework across multiple environments, it will ensure that compliance and player safety remain top priorities as the business moves away from its on-premises environment.
Results
Growth in a complex regulatory environment
Compliance with gambling regulations in Europe presents a significant challenge due to the fragmented regulatory framework. Each country has its own laws and licensing requirements, and Austria is no exception.
With the deployment of Distributed Cloud Services, Austrian Lotteries can grow the business while complying with stringent rules and regulations, including GDPR. Powerful security features reinforce the business’s compliance framework and help ensure adherence to data protection regulations and other technical requirements.
“F5 fully understands the challenges and complexities of operating in regulatory environments, such as Austria and the European Union,” says Cordt. “We are confident that they will continue to support Austrian Lotteries as we innovate and grow the business in the coming years.”
A better player experience
In addition to protecting player well-being, Austrian Lotteries prioritizes the overall gaming experience. With greater traffic visibility provided by Distributed Cloud Services, Austrian Lotteries can modify its defenses and prevent DDoS attacks that could slow down or interrupt customers playing online games. A smoother customer experience also paves the way for growth by retaining existing participants and attracting new ones.
Easy-to-use F5 dashboards offer valuable insights into system traffic and other critical metrics. Better visibility leads to a quicker response time, directly contributing to site stability and a seamless experience for gamers. If suspicious requests start hitting the network, the Austrian Lotteries team can quickly capture all the relevant log files, check the IP addresses, and determine a response. By effectively monitoring undesirable traffic, the business not only protects the network but also enhances legitimate user activity, reduces bottlenecks, and ultimately delivers a smoother, uninterrupted gaming experience.
A strategic security partnership
Austrian Lotteries can leverage extensive F5 resources, including dedicated customer service and support teams, to stay ahead of the latest threats and meet evolving compliance requirements. This strategic partnership, built on mutual trust and open communication, ensures timely and effective assistance.
Direct access to F5 experts facilitates rapid issue resolution, minimizing service disruptions. Notably, Austrian Lotteries benefits from early access to innovative F5 solutions, enabling the organization to proactively address emerging security threats and compliance mandates, thereby safeguarding operations and customer data.
Accelerating the cloud journey
Austrian Lotteries gives Distributed Cloud Services top marks for integration and flexibility. The SaaS-based solution is designed to operate seamlessly across various environments from on-premises data centers to multicloud and edge locations. By integrating with diverse IT infrastructures, the solution ensures consistent security policies are applied across all environments.
Distributed Cloud Services plays a critical role as Austrian Lotteries migrates to the cloud. By providing a unified platform for application delivery, it ensures optimal performance during the migration phase. It also helps prevent cloud vendor lock in—ideal for Austrian Lotteries, which expects to partner with more than one provider.
“We're thrilled to partner with F5 as we embark on our next phase of growth. The Distributed Cloud Platform offers the perfect blend of security, scalability, and flexibility needed to thrive in today's complex regulatory landscape,” says Zenz. “By unifying our security posture across multiple environments, F5 enables us to innovate rapidly without compromising compliance. It's a game changer for our business.”
- Support compliance with complex regulations
- Improve the player experience
- Defend against DDoS, bots, and other threats
- Accelerate migration to multicloud environment
- Protect customer data and ensure player welfare
- Prevent interruptions to gaming experience
- Adapt to constantly evolving attack landscape
- Replace on-premises with modern cloud architecture