A “cybersecurity issue” led to the shutdown of some casino and hotel computer systems at MGM Resorts International properties across the U.S., a company official reported Monday.
The incident began Sunday. The extent of its effect was not immediately known on reservation systems and casino floors in Las Vegas and states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, company spokesman Brian Ahern said.
“We couldn't do the slot machines because you had to sit there and wait for someone to pay you in cash. So the slot machines became empty and people were just sitting there waiting for their money,” casino visitor Cindy Halloran said.
Guests at Borgata's sister properties in Las Vegas are locked out of their hotel rooms and guests from both properties are commenting on social media.
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The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, confirmed to NBC10 that its hotel rooms are accessible.
“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 Borgata media team sent NBC10 in a statement.
The FBI is “aware of the incident,” the bureau said in a statement from its national press office. It characterized the event as “still ongoing” and did not disclose details.
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MGM Resorts said in a statement it identified a “cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems” and that its investigation involved external cybersecurity experts.
The nature of the issue was not described, but the statement said efforts to protect data included “shutting down certain systems." It said the investigation was continuing.
“The machines did not give credit based upon the rewards. There was long lines in most of the restaurants, snack bars," Larry Roberts, a casino guest, said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a post on the company website said the site was still down. It listed telephone numbers to reach the reservation system and properties.
A post on the company’s BetMGM website in Nevada acknowledged that some customers were unable to log on.
The president of Atlantic City's main casino union, Donna Decaprio, gave credit to the company for quickly putting manual systems in place for employees affected, "so that they could properly sign in and out, so that there was no disruption to payroll."
The credit rating agency "Moody's" warned that this cyberattack could negatively impact MGM's credit rating.
The company has tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Las Vegas at properties including the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Aria, New York New York, Park MGM, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and Delano.
