The gaming network described herein includes network security features, host security features, audit protocols, and design architecture approaches to reduce the possibility of network attacks. The gaming network provides for traffic confidentiality, encryption, message authentication, secure authentication mechanisms, anti-replay protection of traffic, key management mechanisms, robust network availability, misrouting and redirection protection and prevention, rejection of external traffic, and a high entry-barrier to device addition to the network. The host protection and security includes secure host initialization, disabling unneeded components, download verification, disabling of unused IP ports, discarding traffic, strong passwords, dynamic one-time passwords for remote login, disabling default accounts, and appropriate “least-level” device privileges. Audit requirements include integrity protection of audit logs, appropriate definition of auditable events, auditing of anomalous behavior, chain of evidence preservation, shutdown if audit disabled, full log entry audit, personal ID and time access audit trail, and auditing of internal user actions.
1. A method of initializing a gaming network, comprising:
initializing a host of the gaming network, the gaming network including a plurality of network devices, wherein the host server is a secure key servers that uses multi-part passwords, each of said network devices having a network IP address, a MAC address and at least one device identification code (DID);
creating a binding association by concatenating for each network device the IP address, MAC address and one or more DID codes to create said binding association unique to each of said network devices;
mapping said network devices on the network and for each device the binding association;
storing said mapping in a data structure;
monitoring changes to any binding association on the gaming network;
disabling a network device when the binding association of said network device is changed.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of disabling a network device when the binding association is changed is accomplished automatically.
3. The method of claim 2 , further including the step of notifying a network administrator when the binding association is changed and logging the changed association.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the network administrator is notified automatically.