MGM Resorts is facing a financial catastrophe after the cyberattack it suffered last month in many of its establishments. The Las Vegas-based giant, known for running some of the most popular casinos and hotels in the world, has admitted that losses will exceed $100 million.
The company suffered an attack by a group of young hackers calling itself ‘Scattered Spider’, whose members are between 19 and 22 years old. The hackers paralyzed the hotel and casino chain’s computer systems, unleashing chaos on MGM Resorts’ operations and affecting its customers.
In mid-September, the company noted that a security problem had led to several incidents in its computer systems, leading to an investigation. Due to the cyberattack, MGM Resorts had to indefinitely discontinue a number of digitized services.
The access to the rooms with a magnetic card or the recreational machines in its casinos stopped working, so the business giant made a tough decision: turn off its computer systems and suspend its operation.
After the episode experienced, the company has filed a document with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, where they claim to have suffered losses valued at 100 million dollars.
Likewise, at least $10 million in losses would have to be added to this amount of money, an extra expense that includes payments intended to reduce risks from other cyber attacks, legal fees and third-party advice.
In addition to the huge sum lost, MGM has had to face another misfortune: cybercriminals have obtained personal information from its clients, such as name, telephone number, address, email, gender or date of birth, even hacking their numbers. of Social Security.
Luckily, the hotel complex assures that so far this information has not been used to commit fraud.
In the wake of the attack, MGM Resorts hotels and casinos suffered a series of catastrophic misfortunes: slot machines were out of service, ATMs and vending machines were not working, and complaints from customers and guests were mounting.
To carry out this cyberattack, ‘Scattered Spider’ required a brief telephone interaction and collaboration with a well-known ransomware-as-a-service group, such as ALPHV or BlackCat.
This is not the first time that a casino has been the main target of a crime of this nature, since cybersecurity is not “top level,” as noted by Allan Liska, an intelligence analyst at the security firm Recorded Futuro.
