Major casino resort firm hit by huge cyber attack as guests locked out of rooms

11 September 2023 , 18:59

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A nationwide cyberattack has hit MGM (Image: GC Images)

The FBI is investigating after a major hotel and casino resort company was hit by a "devastating" cyber attack nationwide, with a number of properties impacted - including in Las Vegas.

Sites owned by MGM Resorts International - Nevada's largest employer - reported a security breach earlier today. Casino industry chatter site Vital Vegas said the attack was "devastating" because "MGM Resorts has about 48,000 rooms on The Strip."

Everything from slot machines, room keys, ATMs and reservations have been affected and employees are currently unable to access their company emails. It is not clear when systems will be back online.

Multiple MGM sites have been affected including the MGM Grand Detroit, MGM Northfield Park in Ohio, Empire City Casino in NYC, Beau Rivage in Mississippi, Borgata in Atlantic City and MGM Springfield in Massachusetts. Casinos in the Chineses autonomous region of Macau appear not to have been affected.

A customer in an MGM in Ohio told Casino.org: "I was waiting over an hour at the MGM in Ohio and no one was even in site to pay anyone. They had over half the machines lit up waiting for someone to show up. There was maybe two people walking around. I left over a $300 credit because I could not wait all day for them. This is ridiculous."

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At the famous Bellagio in Las Vegas, the system is down "internally and externally," according to a report by News 3. In an quote, a local news source reported an MGM executive said it would take "days" to fix this "disaster."

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MGM is Nevada's biggest employer (Getty Images)

"MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the Company's systems," MGM said in a statement issued by MGM’s executive director of communications Brian Ahern. Mr Ahern had to use a Gmail address instead of his work email to put the statement out.

"Promptly after detecting the issue we quickly began an investigation with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts,he added. "We also notified law enforcement and took prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems."

One user on Reddit said: "I work at an mgm (not in Vegas). It’s a mess. Everything is a mess. We’re unable to do anything. Everything is manual. My coworker can’t even contact HR about his leave of absence."

A frustrated consumer said on Twitter: "We are at one of your resorts. It's pretty widespread. We can't check in, pay with card, use comps, receive our gifts, get tickets out of machines."

It is not clear who or what may have caused the problems or when systems will be fully functioning again. In 2019, people's sensitive data that included licenses, military ID cards and passports were leaked on a hacking forum. It was part of a wider leak from data stored by MGM of around an initial 10.6million people. This was later corrected to over 142million hotel guests.

In February 2020, a hacker attempted to sell details of 142,479,937 for just over $2,900, business and tech site ZDNet reported. "The vast majority of data consisted of contact information like names, postal addresses, and email addresses, MGM said.

Benjamin Lynch