10 days ago, MGM Resort International came became the latest victim of an attack by hackers. Unlike Caesars Entertainment who paid a $15 million ransom when they came under attack last week, MGM chose to fight. However, it came at a price as MGM has been experiencing problems in several of their hotels and casinos. Thus, our MGM Cyberattack Update will over their latest announcement and the cost of not succumbing to cyber ransom attacks.
According to the latest casino news, on September 11, 2023, dozens of MGM resorts had to shut their operation. The cause was a cyberattack by AlphaV, which goes by several other names like BlackCat, Scattered Spider, and Oktapus. Furthermore, the MGM Cyberattack had a large impact their internal computer system leading to several operating and stolen data issues.
Since then, MGM has been able restore most of the issues.
MGM Cyberattack Update – Almost Back to Normal but at a Cost
Yesterday, MGM made an announcement in regards to the Cyberattack. They said that “services, dining, entertainment, pools, and spas are operating normally.” In addition, they said that their “gaming floors, including slots, table games, and poker rooms are open.” However, customers said that cashing out from slot machines was still slow because the online slot machine system was still down. Thus, payment had to be done manually.
Overall, the cyberattack had the affect of disabling hotel room pass-cards, booking system, and machines on the casino gaming floor. Thus, it was limiting the ability of their casinos in Vegas to do business properly. Some of these casinos were the Bellagio, Aria, MGM Grand, NoMad, and Mandalay Bay. Furthermore, the shutdown was preventing credit card transactions and even the BetMGM sports betting app and company website went down.
At the moment, the MGM website is still experiencing problems with their online booking system. Therefore, potential visitors must call 1-877-353-1987 to make a reservation. Unfortunately, the call volume is very large and the wait time is long. Due to this, MGM is waiving change and cancellation feeds for guest arriving between sept. 13-24.
While MGM resorts may be slowly coming back to normal, it came at a heavy financial cost. David Katz, a gaming industry analyst, said MGM was losing up to $8.4 million per day due to the attack. Thus, it is about 10% to 20% of their daily revenue and cash flow.
Katz also said that the damage from the cyberattack would be taken care of by the insurance company. However, the big question is to what extent will it cover loss and damages.
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