While the company has acknowledged this as a “cyber-security issue,” and addressed the problem by taking down certain systems, it confirms that the facilities remained “operational.”
The customers have also been facing issues owing to the security breach. In one instance, a customer staying at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas reported that she ended up into the wrong room due to the malfunctioning of hotel’s digital keys. Following this, the staff had to substitute it with physical keys. The customer was further offered a complimentary stay as a compensation.
Also, a TikTok video has also been posted by the customer, showing how the slot machines and gambling games at the resort was not operating at the moment.
Moreover, many complaints were seen surfacing on social media where users complained about their reservation getting canceled, or about their inability to check in, pay by card, or log in. One customers claimed that he had to leave the MGM Grand premise, in order to look for cash for buying food.
In regards to this, MGM Resorts stated in their X post (known formerly as Twitter) that it has started an investigation "with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts."
"We also notified law enforcement and took prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems," the company stated. The company further noted that the investigation was ongoing with “nature and scope” of the cyber-attack, which is yet to be defined.
In another statement, the company noted in their post that their “resorts including dining, entertainment and gaming are still operational.” "Our guests continue to be able to access their hotel rooms and our Front Desk is ready to assist our guests as needed," it added.
However, the MGM’s official website is still not working. On its homepage, a notice informs users that the website is "currently unavailable" and offers phone numbers or links to external websites for getting in touch with the business. A similar message was displayed on the websites of the company’s resorts.
This is the second time that the MGM Resorts are witnessing a cyber-security incident.
2019 saw a breach in one of the company's cloud services, and more than 10 million client records were taken by hackers. Names, addresses, and passport numbers of individuals were stolen.
It is unknown at this time if this most recent cyber-attack resulted in the theft of similar data.
It is worth mentioning about the MGM Resort attacks, since casinos are not very popular targets for hackers. Moreover, MGM businesses are not just another casino supplier, but a giant corporate empire, with its hotels and casinos stretching across the US, with some of the best known locations in Las Vegas.