Update as of 18:45 CST
The Venetian Resort has announced on their Twitter that it was not a cybersecurity attack or terrorism, but that they were experiencing system errors and malfunctions and have since fixed the issue.
Today we experienced a brief outage of some of our slot machines. This was not a cyber-related incident. Slot machines have now been restored and we are working with guests who were impacted.
— The Venetian Resort Las Vegas (@VenetianVegas) September 15, 2023
There are reports of another possible casino attack at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. At least 80% of slot machines experiencing issues as customers are unable to cash out at Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Local videos and reports show that lots of slot machines are down with computer error codes commonly seen in attacks.
Venetian just went down. Blinking lights on 80% of the machines. Some have shut off. Everything requires hand pay and you can’t cash out. People are getting impatient and pissed. @Feven_Kay pic.twitter.com/viFy8cAviI
— IP (@IWP1977) September 15, 2023
I guess it could be a coincidence but very strange. This is at Palazzo right now #Vegas pic.twitter.com/3vzacgYGvj
— Tom (@tomclearynyc) September 15, 2023
There have been many other cybersecurity attacks that have affected casinos that are owned or operated by MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas within the last month and properties in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. MGM has been affected by cybersecurity terrorism specifically in the past.
In the past, public companies weren’t required by law to share the fact they’d been attacked or paid ransoms, often in the millions of dollars.
In fact, the Venetian has been hit before.
(From reports from Casino.com)
An act of state-sponsored cyberterrorism in 2014 against the Las Vegas Sands Corporation (owner and operator of The Venetian/Palazzo and Sands Expo and Convention Center) wiped out 75% of the company’s Vegas-based servers and caused an estimated $40 million in equipment costs and data recovery.
The attack had no financial motive and was apparently orchestrated to punish Sands’ CEO and largest shareholder, billionaire Sheldon Adelson, for comments he made in a panel discussion at Yeshiva University the previous October. During that discussion, Adelson suggested that the U.S. should detonate a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert if Tehran continued its nuclear program.
According to former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the Iranian government was behind the attack. A message left on company servers read: “Encouraging the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, UNDER ANY CONDITION, is a Crime.” The note was signed by the “Anti WMD Team.”
More to come as information is reported.
