Casino giant Caesars Entertainment reports cyberattack; MGM Resorts says some systems still down
Casino company Caesars Entertainment has joined Las Vegas gambling rival MGM Resorts International in reporting a recent cyberattack
LAS VEGAS — Casino company Caesars Entertainment on Thursday joined Las Vegas gambling rival MGM Resorts International in reporting that it was hit by a cyberattack, but added in a report to federal regulators that its casino and online operations were not disrupted.
The Reno-based publicly traded company told the federal Securities and Exchange Commission that it could not guarantee that personal information about tens of millions of customers was secure following a data breach Sept. 7 that may have exposed driver’s license and Social Security numbers of loyalty rewards members.
“We have taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor,” the company said, “although we cannot guarantee this result.”
Brett Callow, threat analyst for the New Zealand-based cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said it was not clear if a ransom was paid or who was responsible for the intrusion — and for the attack reported Monday by MGM Resorts.
“Unofficially, we saw a group called Scattered Spider claimed responsibility," Callow said. «They appear to be native English speakers under the umbrella of a Russia-based operation called ALPHV or BlackCat.”
Scattered Spider also is known as UNC3944, said Charles Carmakal, chief technical officer at cybersecurity firm Mandiant. He called the group “incredibly disruptive and aggressive” in recent targeting of hospitality and entertainment organizations.
“They leverage tradecraft that is challenging for many organizations with mature security programs to defend against,” Carmakal said in a statement.
Mandiant said in a blog analysis published
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