After more than a week, MGM Resorts International says its systems are fully functional following a cyber attack that stymied operations across the country.
MGM’s Atlantic City casino, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, was among the properties affected by the cybersecurity breach. MGM Rewards access, digital hotel keys, ATMs, sports gambling kiosks and even certain slot machines at Borgata were not available dating back to Sept. 10.
Nearly everything back to normal for Borgata Atlantic City
By Wednesday, nearly all of Borgata’s customer-facing operations were back online, including ticket-in/ticket-out at slots and free slot play. However, some systems, such as the MGM Rewards app and online hotel reservations, remain inactive.
MGM Rewards are back to normal at slots, but tier credits earned on table games were still being manually recorded.
MGM is continuing to allow guests to cancel their hotel reservations without penalty through Sept. 24.
“Our resort services, dining, entertainment, pools and spas are operating normally and welcoming thousands of guests each day. Our gaming floors, including slots, table games, and poker rooms are open,” an MGM statement reads.
It goes on to say:
“Visitors to all of our properties may use Slot Dollars and [bonuses], and our slots are recording gaming spend. Our slot ticket-in/ticket-out systems are up and running, and our amazing employees are available to help guests with any intermittent issues. We thank you for your patience and look forward to welcoming you soon.”
The company’s cybersecurity issues did not impact its sportsbooks or online casinos in New Jersey.
BetMGM Casino NJ, BetMGM Sportsbook NJ, Borgata Online Casino and Borgata Sports were not targeted (in New Jersey or anywhere in the US), according to the company.
Cyberattacks the topic du jour of the casino biz
MGM Resorts was not the only gambling company to suffer a recent cyber attack. Caesars Entertainment — which operates three Atlantic City casinos — admitted in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it had been the target of hackers.
According to the 8-K document, Caesars said its loyalty program customer database was stolen. The database contained personal information, including driver’s license numbers and social security numbers, from a “significant number” of Caesars Rewards members.
Various unconfirmed media reports say Caesars paid a $30 million ransom.
Caesars said in the SEC filing that it has seen “no evidence” the stolen data “has been further shared, published, or otherwise misused.” Nonetheless, Caesars is offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection to Caesars Rewards members. The company said it will be notifying members “consistent with our legal obligations” on a rolling basis over the next few weeks.
In addition, Caesars has maintained the stolen data did not affect operations of its online betting platforms, including the Caesars Palace NJ Casino app.
