MGM Resorts Las Vegas cyber attack could be costing up to $8.4 million A DAY as computer systems remain down: New hire claims his paycheck has been delayed in the chaos
MGM Resorts could lose as much as $8.4 million a day as their computer systems fail to function after a massive cyberattack, as a new employee claims their paychecks are delayed in the chaos.
Disruptions at hotels and casinos owned by MGM Resorts International have been going on for more than a week after the company was raided by hackers demanding ransoms to restore access.
The giant company may currently be losing between $4.2 million and $8.4 million in daily revenue — and about $1 million in cash flow per day, a gaming industry analyst said in a report to investors, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In a weekly report published Sunday, stock analyst David Katz estimated that MGM could take a 10 to 20 percent hit to sales and cash flow “for the days that current conditions exist.”
While the company claimed Friday that payroll payments had been made, a new employee at T-Mobile Arena, a joint venture between MGM and AEG, claimed this weekend that he had not yet received his salary.
There were long lines for check-in at the Bellagio last week
ARIA still had some slot machines offline, while the rest could only be paid for in cash and by hand
“We all went to check our accounts and we saw that we were all locked out,” said Alvin Evans, who has undergone training to join the security team at the arena.
“We all went to check our accounts and we saw that we were all locked out,” said Alvin Evans, who has undergone training to join the security team at the arena.
‘How did this happen? My information is on those apps, so I’m definitely concerned about that,” he said.
The new employee claimed he had not received his check as of Saturday.
“I’ve tried calling HR, I’ve sent emails, I’ve done everything I can and no one has responded to me,” Evans told local police. Fox affiliate.
On Sunday, Twitter user Jacob Orth provided an update on the situation at the Bellagio casino, saying most of the slot machines were working.
On Thursday evening, videos posted from MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip, including ARIA and Bellagio, showed painfully long check-in lines and some slot machines remaining offline.
MGM Resorts said the incident began Sunday and affected reservations and casino floors in Las Vegas and other states. Videos on social media showed video gaming machines that had gone dark. Some customers said their hotel room cards didn’t work and others said they were canceling their trips this weekend.
In a statement late Thursday, hackers claiming responsibility for the breach said they retained access to “some of MGM’s infrastructure” and threatened “additional attacks” if their ransom demands were not met.
On Sunday, Twitter user Jacob Orth provided an update on the situation at the Bellagio casino, saying most of the slot machines were working.
MGM’s continued woes come after rival gaming giant Caesars Entertainment confirmed last week that it had discovered a breach, but Caesars reportedly paid a ransom of around $15 million and avoided any customer disruption.
The FBI told DailyMail.com that it is investigating the incidents at both Caesars and MGM, adding: “As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot provide additional details.”
Both breaches appear to have been initiated by social engineering attacks, where the hackers tricked human targets into handing over credentials, for example by posing as real employees during phone calls to support lines.
The attribution for the attacks remained ambiguous. A group called Scattered Spider contacted journalists claiming responsibility for both breaches, while an affiliated gang known as ALPHV posted a lengthy statement contradicting these claims and saying they carried out the MGM attack.
It is possible that the two groups, known to have an affiliated relationship, both participated in the attacks, or are actually factions within the same loose hacker collective.
Last week, casino visitors shared images of the out-of-function slot machines
Tony Anscombe, the chief security officer for San Diego-based cybersecurity firm ESET, said it appears the invasions were carried out as a “socially designed attack,” meaning the hackers used tactics such as a phone call, text messages or phishing email -mails. to break the system.
“Security is only as good as the weakest link, and unfortunately, like many cyber attacks, human behavior is the method cyber criminals use to gain access to a company’s crown jewels,” Anscombe said.
For MGM guests, the result of that company’s breach was a week of confusion and frustration.
“The MGM hack is causing chaos,” posted X user Rachel Hooks of ARIA, sharing a video of long lines and slot machines on the fritz. ‘Ridiculous queues at check-in and casinos empty.’
At the Bellagio, @JacobLasVegasLife posted a video showing huge lines for hotel check-in.
MGM’s hotels have reportedly been forced to implement outdated measures at check-in counters, writing down guest information and credit card numbers by hand as system glitches continue.
The outage appears to be impacting MGM properties outside Vegas, including the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Mississippi-based Biloxi.
MGM was hacked in 2019, with a reported 142 million guests affected.
Among the people involved in the breach were Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Justin Bieber, according to previous reports.
ZDNet verified that no financial information was included in the breach, which consisted mainly of “contact information such as names, mailing addresses and email addresses,” according to an MGM spokesperson.