MGM Resorts said Monday it has shut down many of its systems and notified police due to what it believes to be a cybersecurity issue severely affecting its US operations.
According to details from CDC Gaming Reports, which has been covering the drama extensively throughout the day, the issue initially impacted MGM’s website and email, with reservation systems down and the company communicating via a Gmail account. However, there are reports that the problem is also affecting gaming operations across the country with “dozens of slot machines offline at Aria on the Las Vegas Strip” and similar problems on the gaming floors of Borgata in Atlantic City and MGM Northfield in Ohio.
CDC Gaming Reports also revealed there have been reports of ATMs being offline and guests locked out of their hotel rooms because their digital keys are not working.
Fox 5 reported that all operations at the Bellagio in Las Vegas are currently manual and transactions cash only due to credit card machines being offline.
In a statement, MGM said, “MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the Company’s systems. Promptly after detecting the issue, we quickly began 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. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are working diligently to determine the nature and scope of the matter.”
MGM’s customer-facing website was still down at time of publication although its Investor Relations website appears to be unaffected.
The issue does not seem to have impacted the company’s Macau-based subsidiary MGM China, nor, according to CDC Gaming Reports, has it affected BetMGM.
MGM Resorts was previously the victim of a cyberattack in 2019 which later saw the personal details of more than 10 million guests published online, including pop singer Justin Bieber.
