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MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing

198 points| codex_irl | 2 years ago |casino.org

105 comments

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bsimpson|2 years ago

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.

basch|2 years ago

MGM is basically a defunct rights holding company. It’s made 5 movies in the last decade, including 2 Addams Family, 2 Max (dog movies), and a GI Joe, and the Addams Family movies were really Made by Universal. It’s also a name slapped on some other streaming app.

If I heard the name referring to a current company, I would think hotels/casinos/sportsbooks first. That said, the title could still be better.

sschueller|2 years ago

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

netsharc|2 years ago

Ocean's 0x11? I wonder if it's just an attack against their email servers or a bigger one, how networked are their operations? If we believe the urban legends about how casinos operate, there's probably interesting conversations a cyber-attacker could find.

mickdarling|2 years ago

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.

lucisferre|2 years ago

I think you meant 0x0B.

jjkaczor|2 years ago

Very networked - but their email servers are now likely cloud-based SaaS.

mixdup|2 years ago

almost certainly just a random/typical ransomware attack, not a specific target at them because they're a casino

abathur|2 years ago

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 night, has affected company emails, reservations, booking, room keys and casino slot machines.

[1]: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12505921/MGM-Resort...

lainga|2 years ago

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.

gymbeaux|2 years ago

Over the years, MGM has bought up hotel-casinos on the Strip, and now they own most of ‘em. If you’re staying on the Strip, odds are it’s an MGM hotel.

swozey|2 years ago

Good god, 48 THOUSAND rooms??

OscarTheGrinch|2 years ago

So it would be the perfect time to assemble a team of misfits and attempt madcap heist?

dafelst|2 years ago

I was at the Park MGM is Las Vegas yesterday and was unable to use the app or the automated checkout kiosks, though aside from the front desk being more busy than usual during checkin and checkout, nothing in particular seemed amiss.

tpmx|2 years ago

I'm currently rewatching the Las Vegas (2003) NBC TV series (the one with James Caan, Josh Duhamel, James Lesure, Molly Sims, Nikki Cox, Vanessa Marcil etc). Feels on-brand; like every second ep is about some fantastic heist.

It's worth rewatching as a guilty pleasure, IMO. Feels quite alien compared to current fare. It's dumb but well-crafted, fun and glitzy and never takes itself too seriously. I miss that kind of show.

Surprisingly high production values for the time. It's available in 1080p with decent quality, somehow.

toast0|2 years ago

HDTV (ATSC) was available in 1998 in the US[1]; consumer uptake wasn't much until close to the shutdown of analog broadcasting, but it was out there. NBC broadcasts in 1080i, so it's not terribly surprising that they recorded it in a way that would look good on 1080p. I can't find anything saying exactly how it was recorded, but it wasn't uncommon to film in 1080p/24 and broadcast with 3:2 pulldown. That kind of content will look great as 1080p obviously; but if it was recorded at 1080i, a professional deinterlacing will look pretty good too.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20140924040947/http://www.highbe...

therealcamino|2 years ago

I don't know anything about this particular show, but lots of programs were shot on film, and could just be scanned at higher resolution once HD video standards existed.

plasticsoprano|2 years ago

Ed Deline would never allow such as thing. Mike would most certainly be on it.

photonthug|2 years ago

Maybe most of the LED displays are run by the same IT department. So if I were an evil genius, this latest attack would be only the first salvo of bewildering hijinks perpetrated in the service of a multistep heist. The ultimate goal: rickroll the entire city after hijacking The Sphere ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCeYV0SV8k&ab_channel=Billi... )

tilne|2 years ago

How many people would you need for such an elaborate, multi-step heist? Especially wondering because, given your reputation, I’m assuming you would need a to be more of a puppet master than an active participant.

RyanAdamas|2 years ago

Does somebody have a magnetron?

Animats|2 years ago

Almost all news available is an echo of the press release. Not much real info.

tunnuz|2 years ago

Makes me think of the Sony hack by the Lazarus Group.

nosmokewhereiam|2 years ago

Allegedly due to the release of a movie. I'd assume this MGM resort is extortion/DOS.

...which doesn't eliminate them. Recent visits and timing would be impeccable.

Every day they are down is $$$$$$

monksy|2 years ago

This is the same group that brought in face recognition, and needlessly detailed data keeping on every customer and we're expected to trust them .. right?

bigbillheck|2 years ago

If they're going to shut something down, better a casino than anywhere else.

allenrb|2 years ago

Was just coming here to say it: And nothing of value was lost.