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MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

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Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#31

Post by mickdarling »

plasticsoprano wrote: post #28
mickdarling wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I think that MGM has actively shut everything down, rather than some massive hack that has effected all these separate systems. Best guess is that with the F1 races coming soon with what is expected to be the largest cashflow through Vegas ever, that MGM Resorts IT found issues in an audit in preparation for that massive event, found anomalies, and pulled the rip cord to shut everything down till they could sort…

MGM has acknowledged it's an attack [1] and certain vegas gossip sites have stated that Caesars was hit last hit last week but was able to keep it better under wraps. 1. https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/mgm-re...

Right, they say almost exactly what I said above.

"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."

The systems are down due to MGM shutting them down, not the active attack shutting things down.

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#32

Post by spdustin »

abathur wrote: post #7

Take w/ requisite salt, but per Daily Mail [1]: > Thousands of guests at MGM Resorts in the Las Vegas strip have been locked out of their hotel rooms after the company was hit with a cyber attack, according to reports. > MGM Resorts International has about 48,000 rooms on The Strip. The company's properties include Mandalay Bay, the Bellagio, Luxor and MGM Grand, among others. > The outage, first detected on Sunday n…

That story literally copied/pasted from 8NewsNow [0]

[0]: https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/mgm-resorts-release...

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#33

Post by bee_rider »

caol wrote: post #29
lainga wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do those hotel door locks work? When I had an apartment with a tap keyfob, it was battery-operated and the fob seemed to be programmed for that specific lock, so I thought they could work offline.

MGM hotel rooms can be unlocked with smartphone NFC tap. You don't even need to visit the front desk to check in, just log in to the app. But if you can't open the app you can't get in your room. I'm guessing the front desk can issue keys to a guest in the event they lost their phone or something, but if the network is down for the front desk too then they might not be able to issue keys.

We often make fun of IOT and unnecessary app stuff, but these features 1000% make sense.

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#34

Post by dylan604 »

sschueller wrote: post #9
bsimpson wrote: post #3

Title should be "MGM Resorts Suffers Cybersecurity Attack, System Outage" (following HN norms), or at least include "Resorts." MGM Resorts was spun out of the movie studio in like the 70s.

Agreed, I thought it had something to do with the on going actors and writers guilds strike.

I thought maybe it was hacking to get content. So at least the title instilled a bit of curiosity even if it wasn't the story I had imagined from just the headline

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#35

Post by imglorp »

plasticsoprano wrote: post #28
mickdarling wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I think that MGM has actively shut everything down, rather than some massive hack that has effected all these separate systems. Best guess is that with the F1 races coming soon with what is expected to be the largest cashflow through Vegas ever, that MGM Resorts IT found issues in an audit in preparation for that massive event, found anomalies, and pulled the rip cord to shut everything down till they could sort…

MGM has acknowledged it's an attack [1] and certain vegas gossip sites have stated that Caesars was hit last hit last week but was able to keep it better under wraps. 1. https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/mgm-re...

While there's something to be said for ransomware targeting casinos, "because that's where the money is," that might also attract the wrong attention, and not all from the government. They might wish it was only from the government.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/14/russia-colonial-pip...

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#36

Post by wintogreen74 »

dboreham wrote: post #19
mickdarling wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was disturbed to hear from people first hand in Vegas saying it was making the ATMs inoperable. No details on how inoperable, like if it is just certain banking features or everything. The ATMs should not be effected in the same kind of attack that would take down the website and booking systems. Those should all be separate.

Possibly the ATMs get network connectivity via a path that has either been affected by the attack directly or shut down as a precaution.

I don't believe these are typical bank ATMs but specific to MGM that manage all the casino games (ex: pay-outs, loyalty, etc) as well, so would be tied into any MGM systems.

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#37

Post by alwaysrunning »

lainga wrote: post #14
abathur wrote: post #7

Take w/ requisite salt, but per Daily Mail [1]: > Thousands of guests at MGM Resorts in the Las Vegas strip have been locked out of their hotel rooms after the company was hit with a cyber attack, according to reports. > MGM Resorts International has about 48,000 rooms on The Strip. The company's properties include Mandalay Bay, the Bellagio, Luxor and MGM Grand, among others. > The outage, first detected on Sunday n…

How do those hotel door locks work? When I had an apartment with a tap keyfob, it was battery-operated and the fob seemed to be programmed for that specific lock, so I thought they could work offline.

I did a project several years ago for mgm that involved BT, player cards, key systems, wifi, etc and I can confirm they hotel locks are controlled centrally for various reasons.

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#38

Post by AlotOfReading »

spdustin wrote: post #32
abathur wrote: post #7

Take w/ requisite salt, but per Daily Mail [1]: > Thousands of guests at MGM Resorts in the Las Vegas strip have been locked out of their hotel rooms after the company was hit with a cyber attack, according to reports. > MGM Resorts International has about 48,000 rooms on The Strip. The company's properties include Mandalay Bay, the Bellagio, Luxor and MGM Grand, among others. > The outage, first detected on Sunday n…

That story literally copied/pasted from 8NewsNow [0] [0]: https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/mgm-resorts-release...

They almost certainly got the story from the same wire service rather than copying from each other.

Re: MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

#40

Post by foota »

napoleongl wrote: post #24
lainga wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do those hotel door locks work? When I had an apartment with a tap keyfob, it was battery-operated and the fob seemed to be programmed for that specific lock, so I thought they could work offline.

These days the locks are online so that you can block a lost keycard from the front desk. Previously you had to open the lock with a never keycard than the lost one to make the lost one inoperable. That works kinda fine in a small hotel but not when you 48000 rooms with millionaires in them.

Fwiw you could probably build this in a way that it continues to operate without internet. This creates a new attack vector (disable the internet and you can't revoke access) but that's probably acceptable given the physical attacks possible.
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