Positioned as a prime target for cybercriminals due to their potential exposure to money laundering and sports corruption, one of Australia’s largest bookmakers has beefed up their cyber defence by engaging with cybersecurity provider WhiteHawk (ASX: WHK). 

The engagement will see WhiteHawk provide an independent cyber audit based on non-invasive monitoring for 12-months to identify, prioritise, and validate cyber risks to the bookmaker’s revenue and reputation. 

The contract is valued at $70,800 but CEO Terry Roberts has flagged the potential for that value to increase as the audit conditions if risks are identified that can be addressed and solved by WhiteHawk’s other solutions. 

“Although WHK has had contracts previously with small Australian Clients, we have now contracted with a large Australian Company for an annual subscription of our proven, AI-Based Cyber Risk Program, with the ability to add key features throughout 2024,” said Roberts. 

“Whilst Phase 1 revenues from this contract are A$70,800, there is an inbuilt ability to add fee paying additional services throughout the life of the contract. This is an important contract that gives us material visibility in the Australian market to complement our success in the US market over the past 5 years, enabling WHK to demonstrate the impact of our AI based Cyber Risk Program SaaS subscriptions across the Australian Large Cap Sector.” 

This collaboration demonstrates the critical need for stringent cybersecurity protocols in the wagering industry, where the risk of data breaches can have far-reaching consequences, including potential sports corruption and money laundering. 

The bookmaker handles vast amounts of sensitive data, ranging from customer information to betting patterns. This data is highly valuable not only for operational purposes but also as a target for cybercriminals who could exploit it for malicious activities.

Independent cyber audits are just one service provided by WhiteHawk which also offer other cybersecurity services that include risk management, maturity assessments, compliance, and threat mitigation, all delivered through Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriptions and virtual consultations

For the quarter ended 31 March 2024, WhiteHawk reported USD $323k in cash receipts. The Company logged $500k of net operating cash outflows with $1.0m of cash on hand remaining. 

Beyond this win from the bookmaker, WhiteHawk has bigger wins in place that are now invoiced monthly and include a USD $1.2M contract with a global social media company and a second-year cyber risk program with Georgetown University.