MGM Resorts reportedly had their systems hacked by a group of hackers who call themselves the “Scattered Spider” hackers. Â A different group called BlackCat has also claimed responsibility. The hackers breached the systems of the $14 billion gaming giant MGM Resorts International, which represents over 30 hotel and gaming venues around the globe, including in Macau, China and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Numerous company systems have been paralyzed for three days straight, and the company reported that they were looking into the incident. Bloomberg additionally reported that Caesars Entertainment, a different casino company, recently fell victim to hackers as well. The Caesars’ hackers reportedly held the company data for ransom, demanding that executives pay a hefty price for the data and privacy of recent customers.
Shares in both companies decreased in value by Wednesday, September 13. The Scattered Spider group allegedly utilized social engineering to lure system users into giving their login credentials or one-time codes to skip multi-factor authentication, according to security group Crowdstrike.
Social Media Reactions
Gamers and MGM resortgoers alike are sharing videos of machine outages in the company’s casinos. Slot machines are down nationwide, with gamblers unable to participate in their favorite games.
MGM Resorts has been hit with a cyber security attack. Everything from gaming machines to hotel communications have mostly been inoperable for four days now. pic.twitter.com/88zTqb2piU
— Las Vegas Issues (@VegasIssues) September 13, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
While many anxiously await the hacking to be resolved, some claim that it takes a full 72 hours to get a breach of these proportions under control.
It takes atleast 72 hours to fully perform a SIR (Security Incident Response)
— The Unreal NEO (@theunrealNE0) September 13, 2023
Elsewhere, others joke that the hackers ought to put their skills to more important uses, like erasing the student debt crisis.
When are these genius hackers gonna wipe out all student loan debt already?
— Heather Cothran (@HeatherHlynhart) September 13, 2023
Others worry for the fate of Las Vegas vacationers and the city’s economy at large, as much of the city relies on the revenue brought in by tourists and gamblers.
Vegas if MGM doesn't pay the ransom by Friday night pic.twitter.com/IA4Et7D8Ef
— Las Vegas Locally ???? (@LasVegasLocally) September 14, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
All resort phones have been reportedly disconnected, despite what a previous MGM statement seemingly confirmed.
IG isn’t censoring this content – thankfully. TikTok seems to be for some reason. I still wanted to share here. This is the situation as of this afternoon. I will continue to provide updates as I have them. So far, no additional information is being shared by MGM Resorts. Major… pic.twitter.com/8VIJLUygnA
— Jen G. (@vegasstarfish) September 13, 2023
MGM most recently announced that they are actively still working to resolve the issue.
— MGM Resorts (@MGMResortsIntl) September 14, 2023
The company is yet to confirm how much customer data fell victim to the hacking.
What about the MGM Resorts loyalty rewards program? Has the customers' private data been compromised by the hack?
— Mark Nakata (@mrnonel) September 14, 2023
Some urge the company to pay the ransom price in order to save their business, which will likely fall to competitor chains this upcoming weekend unless this is resolved in a timely manner.
Vegas if MGM doesn't pay the ransom by Friday night pic.twitter.com/IA4Et7D8Ef
— Las Vegas Locally ???? (@LasVegasLocally) September 14, 2023
MGM has not issued a timeline for their anti-hacking efforts at this time. It is unclear whether international resorts are more or less affected than those in the U.S., though the MGM Macau, China location was named among the affected by the hacking.
