‘Cybersecurity Issue’ Forces Systems Shutdown at MGM Hotels and Casinos
The websites belonging to the company were not functioning properly, leading to guests experiencing issues with accessing their hotel rooms and using slot machines. Cybersecurity professionals have suggested that it was most likely the result of a cyberattack.
Initially published on the 11th of September, 2023, and subsequently modified on the 12th of September, 2023, at twelve minutes past midnight Eastern Time.
MGM Resorts International, which runs casinos and hotels, has confirmed that some of its online systems are experiencing a security issue. This has led to problems for its customers, mainly in Las Vegas. Experts in cybersecurity have speculated that the company may have been the target of a large-scale cyberattack.
MGM Resorts did not give details on the problems or reveal the start and detection dates. However, they informed the law enforcement about it. The company declared that it acted swiftly to safeguard their systems and data, which involved shutting down particular systems.
MGM Resorts announced on their social media that they are currently carrying out an investigation and are actively putting in effort to comprehend the extent and type of issue.
The company seems to be having some issues, but they have not given any response to emails requesting for clarification. On Monday in the evening, their website was unavailable and several users in a Facebook group reported that their slot machines were not functioning. They also disclosed that accessing hotel rooms in the company's resorts was a major problem.
According to a report by the TV station KTNV 13 that originates from Las Vegas, a number of gaming machines situated in hotels ceased to function while a few guests were not able to utilize their digital room keys, make room reservations, or add expenses to their rooms.
Late on Monday night, MGM Resorts released a statement reaffirming that their resorts are still providing the top-notch services for which the brand is recognized. This includes their dining, entertainment, and gaming offerings.
According to the company's statement, their guests can still enter their hotel rooms and their front desk employees are prepared to provide assistance if necessary. The company acknowledges and values their guests' patience during this time.
The exact number of individuals who were impacted by the cybersecurity disturbances was uncertain. MGM is a notable organization that operates hotels and casinos, and has a vast number of accommodations in Las Vegas, such as Mandalay Bay, Aria, the Bellagio, and MGM Grand Las Vegas.
According to Greg Moody, who is an associate professor of information systems and cybersecurity at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, when a company experiences a "cybersecurity issue," it usually means that someone or a group of people have made an attempted to breach the company's network.
According to Dr. Moody, who has collaborated with MGM and its tech team on various projects, the perpetrator or perpetrators could have exploited a vulnerability in the company's defenses to disrupt their systems. This means that there was possibly a weakness somewhere that the attacker was able to exploit.
According to him, hackers usually carry out these types of attacks for financial gain. Their usual modus operandi involves stealing a company's data and keeping it hostage until a ransom is paid for its release. The stolen information is sometimes sold on the dark web to potential buyers who are interested in data containing sensitive details that can be used for identity theft, such as names, numbers, or addresses.
Dr. Moody stated that due to its extensive data collection, MGM is a prime target for potential threats. As a sizable corporation, it possesses a wealth of information that could be vulnerable to attack.
On Monday, Arthur Salmon shared his expertise as a computing and information technology professor and director of the cybersecurity program at the College of Southern Nevada. According to him, big corporations are often targeted by cyberattacks.
According to Dr. Salmon, there are three industries that are commonly attacked due to the increased pressure they face to restore their systems. These industries include utility companies, as customer complaints often make headlines; hospitals, due to the potential risk to patients caused by disruptions; and casinos, as they risk damaging their reputation if customers' private information is breached.
According to Dr. Salmon, the security squad must make correct decisions all the time. The risks keep increasing and changing, and are becoming more sophisticated. The offender, on the other hand, only needs one successful attempt.
According to the statements made by a network security professor named Yoohwan Kim from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, culprits will occasionally take data from a robust financially-stable corporation, ask for a payment in return for a code to decode their systems, and then look forward to the payment from the company.
According to Dr. Salmon, the ransom values may differ, but usually fall within the range of hundreds of thousands to a few million dollars when it comes to larger enterprises.
According to professionals, it could take several months or even years to recover from a large-scale cyber attack.
In the past, there have been many cyberattacks happening globally that have disrupted the work of several organizations such as petrol pipelines, hospitals, and markets, and have even posed threats to some intelligence bureaus. Back in the year 2019, a data breach incident happened involving MGM that was believed to have impacted around 10.6 million individuals.
Reporting was provided by Rebecca Carballo.
