MGM Resorts faced a cyberattack, resulting in system shutdowns

MGM Resorts International allegedly sustained a cyberattack that impacted its critical systems and services. This massive company’s websites, online reservations, and in-casino amenities, such as ATMs, slot machines, and credit card machines, suffered during the incident.

The company confirmed the incident on their social media platform, Twitter, by revealing that it detected a cybersecurity issue affecting several of its systems. The announcement also disclosed that the company had taken action to protect its systems and data.

 

MGM Resorts first observed the attack earlier this month.

 

The cyberattack allegedly occurred last weekend after the computer systems in various MGM Resorts went offline. Moreover, the company has resorted to manual operations after the ATMs and credit card machines on the affected properties became unavailable.

The MGM Resorts’ main website also became inaccessible, and its customers received phone instructions to make hotel reservations. The attack also impacted all MGM websites with the same domain name as the main one.

Hence, locations such as MGM National Harbor, Empire City Casino, MGM Springfield, MGM Grand Detroit, Beau Rivage, and The Borgata have also suffered the consequences of the cybercriminal incident.

Furthermore, numerous guests reported issues with room keys as most of them malfunctioned, resulting in some of them encountering inconvenience in accessing their rooms. During the attack, slot machines displayed “temporarily unavailable” on their screens.

The MGM Rewards app is no longer operational, and the management advised its members to ask for assistance at the front desk. However, other MGM applications, like MGM+ and the MGM sportsbook, did not sustain any compromise from the attack.

The campaign’s true nature and scope remain a mystery despite the widespread disruption. In addition, the attackers’ identity and motivations are still unclear, which makes MGM and its customers anxious.

MGM Resorts International continues investigating and running restoration processes to its systems and compromised machines. The incident indicates threat actors could impact the event in the most prominent organisations worldwide. Therefore, every entity should employ a robust cybersecurity solution to protect data and systems and prevent cybercrime.