FBI investigates after MGM’s casinos and hotels hit by ‘cyber incident’

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The FBI is currently looking into a "cyber incident" that has taken place at MGM Resorts International. This has caused issues for guests who are finding it difficult to use their digital room keys and make reservations. Additionally, some slot machines have been out of order. MGM Resorts International is one of the biggest casino operators in the world.

On X, previously called Twitter, the company released a short message stating that they were experiencing challenges with their systems due to a cybersecurity problem. This caused several of their webpages to remain inaccessible throughout the day on Tuesday.

Reports on social media from customers suggest that the outages have impacted MGM's establishments, including the Bellagio, Aria, Cosmopolitan, and Excalibur casino resorts in Las Vegas. Surprisingly, the said outages have also affected the company's properties in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Ohio. To cope with the situation, affected customers have been advised to obtain handwritten receipts for their winnings.

Several customers took to social media to air their grievances regarding difficulties in online check-in and irregularities in some slot machines. Nonetheless, other customers reported that gambling activities on the casino floors were ongoing.

MGM reported to a TV channel in Las Vegas that they are currently carrying out gambling activities through a manual method.

The FBI mentioned that they are investigating the matter, but the corporation has not replied to any inquiries sent via email. When contacted via phone, there was no one available at the Nevada Gaming Commission to address the issue.

MGM has profited greatly from relaxed COVID-19 regulations in their Macau buildings, earning $3.9 billion in revenue and providing many thousands of hotel rooms. Unfortunately, their stocks have decreased by 3.8% since the previous Friday.

It seems that no one has admitted to being responsible for the assault on popular dark web forums. However, it's normal for either a gang of cybercriminals to boast about their involvement after a few days or for a security team from the affected organization to identify the culprits.

Sometimes, when a company experiences a cyber attack that is only affecting a specific part of its network, they might choose to shut down other parts of the network as a precautionary measure. This is done to prevent the attack from spreading while the company investigates and removes the attackers from its systems.

MGM declared that it had closed off particular systems in order to safeguard its information.

In the past, MGM experienced a security breach where the personal data of about 10 million customers was made public in 2019. In a separate incident, Las Vegas Sands Corp, which is a business rival of MGM, was attacked by Iranian hackers back in 2014. This was due to Sheldon Adelson, who is a supporter of Israel, making comments regarding Iran's nuclear program.