MGM Resorts Cyberattack Cost $100 Million

MGM Resorts International, a global hospitality and entertainment company, has revealed that a cyberattack last month cost the company $100 million and allowed the hackers to steal customers’ personal information.

The company disclosed the cybersecurity issue on September 11, 2023, which impacted its main website, online reservations systems, and in-casino services like slot machines, credit card terminals, and ATMs. MGM Resorts said it took immediate action to contain the attack and restore its systems, but the outage lasted for several days and caused significant disruption to its business operations.

MGM Resorts reveals that last month’s cyberattack cost the company $100 million

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, October 10, 2023, MGM Resorts said that it expects the total cost of the cyberattack to be approximately $100 million, including $10 million in one-time consulting and cleanup fees. The company also said that it believes the hackers stole some customer data, including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth.

“[MGM] estimates a negative impact from the cyber security issue in September of approximately $100 million to Adjusted Property EBITDAR for the Las Vegas Strip Resorts and Regional Operations, collectively,” reads a FORM 8-K filing with the SEC filing.

“While the Company experienced impacts to occupancy due to the availability of bookings through the Company’s website and mobile applications, it was mostly contained to the month of September which was 88%.”

MGM Resorts has not yet released any information about the specific type of cyberattack that it experienced, but it is possible that it was a ransomware attack. Ransomware attacks are a type of malware that encrypts a victim’s data and demands a ransom payment in exchange for the decryption key.

They said that it is working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack and identify the perpetrators. The company is also contacting affected customers to provide them with information about the data breach and to offer them credit monitoring services.

The cyberattack on MGM Resorts is a reminder of the growing threat that cyberattacks pose to businesses of all sizes. Businesses need strong cybersecurity measures to protect their data and their customers’ personal information.

MGM believes that the incident has been contained, and all guest-facing systems have been fully restored. The remaining systems are expected to resume normal operations.

In summary, the cyberattack had a significant financial impact on MGM Resorts, but the company believes that it has been contained and that customer passwords, bank account numbers, and payment card information were not exposed.

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