Talk about doubling down. When cyber hackers compromised MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment’s computer systems over the past few weeks, Scatted Spider took exactly that step. However, the two cases have gone in significantly different directions since the initial infringement.
On Monday morning, MGM Resorts told X, known as Twitter, “We recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems. As soon as we discovered this problem, we began investigating it with the help of an external cybersecurity expert. It has also notified law enforcement and is taking steps to protect systems and data, such as shutting down certain systems. The investigation is ongoing and we are working diligently to resolve the issue.”
According to reports by Cybernews and Bloomberg News, Scatted Spider, which also works for UNC 3944, is known to consist of hackers around the age of 19 based in the U.S. and the U.K., who previously worked with ALPV/BlackCat on LinkedIn to find an MGM employee before calling the MGM help desk and accessing the company’s system, at which point the hackers demanded a ransom from MGM, which the company did not pay. 파친코
It is not yet known how much MGM’s ransom is, but if hackers had used ransomware to lock the company’s files, the answer might have been a little clearer yesterday when news broke that a similar situation had occurred in Caesars.
Caesars reportedly paid $30 million in ransom to those very hackers in the last few weeks to avoid the very fate MGM is currently experiencing.
Caesars is expected to disclose the scope of the cyberattack, which reportedly threatened to first attack external IT vendors and disclose company data before accessing the company’s network.
Meanwhile, all Caesar’s properties are operating as usual, and MGM resorts across the country are reportedly still damaging their websites, reservation systems, room keys, slot machines, credit card machines and more.
This morning, MGM Resorts released a statement about X. “We continue to work diligently to address cybersecurity challenges while addressing the needs of individual customers quickly. We couldn’t do this without thousands of incredible employees dedicated to customer service and the support of our loyal customers. Thank you for your continued patience.”