MGM is down, cybersecurity attack ongoing (opens in new tab)

(casino.org)

198 pointscodex_irl2y ago105 comments

105 comments

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.

basch2y 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.

aquova2y ago

I don't really know where you're getting this number. By my count they've made about three dozen films this decade, including a James Bond film and Creed III.

1 more reply

downrightmike2y ago

Further proof: They have StarGate and aren't doing jack with that at all.

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RC_ITR2y ago

Amazon literally just bought them for $8bn

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/amazon-mgm-merger-close-123...

bettercallsalad2y ago

Did not Amazon at some point buy or thought about buying up some of their business?

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sschueller2y ago

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

dylan6042y ago

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

netsharc2y 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.

mickdarling2y 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.

plasticsoprano2y ago

Casino floor ATMs aren't just ATMs. They are also ticket redemption machines and therefore have to connect to the MGM network to redeem. I'd imagine the whole machine shutdown for security reasons if network connection is lost.

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dboreham2y ago

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

1 more reply

IAmGraydon2y ago

It’s entirely possible that these systems were hacked separately.

lucisferre2y ago

I think you meant 0x0B.

_joel2y ago

beat me to it, unless I've missed a few movies since!

1 more reply

jjkaczor2y ago

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

zie2y ago

;; ANSWER SECTION: mgmresorts.com. 300 IN MX 10 mgmresorts-com.mail.protection.outlook.com.

Outlook handles their email.

mixdup2y ago

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

abathur2y 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...

lainga2y 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.

napoleongl2y ago

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.

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caol2y ago

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.

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alwaysrunning2y ago

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.

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wolverine8762y ago

I was wondering the same. It would be an extreme fire hazard if a power or computer outage made the doors unopenable - especially because a fire could and likely would cause an outage.

4 more replies

wombat-man2y ago

Yours is probably meant to work indefinitely. I guess hotels look at the card id and see if you have access at that moment.

_joel2y ago

Apartment? I assume your home? The upkeep of locks in a hotel is a bit more involved, as customers lose keys and they need to be reset for the next room guest (for larger hotels, at least)

glitchc2y ago

In a modern hotel with tap cards, all the locks are wired to a central system.

gymbeaux2y 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.

squeaky-clean2y ago

If it's not MGM it's Caesar's. And both MGM and Caesar's are owned by VICI Properties.

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borski2y ago

Or Caesar's.

swozey2y ago

Good god, 48 THOUSAND rooms??

OscarTheGrinch2y ago

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

spdustin2y ago

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

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

AlotOfReading2y ago

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

dafelst2y 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.

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codex_irlOP2y ago

tpmx2y 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.

toast02y 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...

thakoppno2y ago

HDTV (ATSC) is a technology that has influenced my life in pretty serious ways. My first tuner was a Sony SAT-HD100[0] in 2001. Witnessing the transition into digital TV through my VGA port, in retrospect, taught me tons about how technology adoption, development, and standardization actually works in the real world.

[0] https://www.crutchfield.com/S-9Pd3SuUnpX0/p_158STHD100/Sony-...

jdofaz2y ago

I think I started watching that show because it was in HD

therealcamino2y 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.

FearNotDaniel2y ago

> just

Unfortunately there's a lot of post-production steps that take place between the original film and the finished show. Since the 90s/noughties many of those steps take place in digital systems after the film has been scanned at the chosen resolution. Here's some detail specific to Babylon 5 and HD conversion, for example:

https://www.engadget.com/2018-06-22-babylon-5-digital-video-...

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plasticsoprano2y ago

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

photonthug2y 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... )

tilne2y 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.

RyanAdamas2y ago

Does somebody have a magnetron?

karaterobot2y ago

The linked article is down, here's an archive https://web.archive.org/web/20230911174437/https://www.casin...

Though the article itself says details are scant, so it's just going to be speculation. I'd love to know what happened though.

Animats2y ago

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

nhggfu2y ago

lots of igaming hacks of late.

other notables: Australia's crown resorts was hacked a while back (March 2023) https://gamblingindustrynews.com/news/australia/crown-potent...

Last week stake.com was hacked https://gamblingindustrynews.com/news/technology/stake-com-4... (apparently by Lazarus group according to FBI https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-identifies-lazar... )

tunnuz2y ago

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

nosmokewhereiam2y 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 $$$$$$

hnburnsy2y ago

Rumors that Ceasars was hit last week...

https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/mgm-resorts-receives-colos...

VFIT7CTO77TOC2y ago

Reminds me of https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/27/technology/security/iran-ha...

monksy2y 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?

bigbillheck2y ago

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

allenrb2y ago

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

andy8002y ago

Your opinion is valid, however I'm currently on a plane heading there, likely a third of the passengers won't be able to check into their hotel. Same with dozens of planes. Kinda sucks for them.

2 more replies

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105 comments

bsimpson2y 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.

basch2y ago

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.

aquova2y ago

I don't really know where you're getting this number. By my count they've made about three dozen films this decade, including a James Bond film and Creed III.

1 more reply

downrightmike2y ago

Further proof: They have StarGate and aren't doing jack with that at all.

2 more replies

RC_ITR2y ago

Amazon literally just bought them for $8bn

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/amazon-mgm-merger-close-123...

bettercallsalad2y ago

Did not Amazon at some point buy or thought about buying up some of their business?

2 more replies

sschueller2y ago

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

dylan6042y ago

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

netsharc2y ago

mickdarling2y ago

plasticsoprano2y ago

1 more reply

dboreham2y ago

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

1 more reply

IAmGraydon2y ago

It’s entirely possible that these systems were hacked separately.

lucisferre2y ago

I think you meant 0x0B.

_joel2y ago

beat me to it, unless I've missed a few movies since!

1 more reply

jjkaczor2y ago

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

zie2y ago

;; ANSWER SECTION: mgmresorts.com. 300 IN MX 10 mgmresorts-com.mail.protection.outlook.com.

Outlook handles their email.

mixdup2y ago

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

abathur2y 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...

lainga2y ago

napoleongl2y ago

2 more replies

caol2y ago

1 more reply

alwaysrunning2y ago

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.

1 more reply

wolverine8762y ago

I was wondering the same. It would be an extreme fire hazard if a power or computer outage made the doors unopenable - especially because a fire could and likely would cause an outage.

4 more replies

wombat-man2y ago

Yours is probably meant to work indefinitely. I guess hotels look at the card id and see if you have access at that moment.

_joel2y ago

Apartment? I assume your home? The upkeep of locks in a hotel is a bit more involved, as customers lose keys and they need to be reset for the next room guest (for larger hotels, at least)

glitchc2y ago

In a modern hotel with tap cards, all the locks are wired to a central system.

gymbeaux2y 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.

squeaky-clean2y ago

If it's not MGM it's Caesar's. And both MGM and Caesar's are owned by VICI Properties.

2 more replies

borski2y ago

Or Caesar's.

swozey2y ago

Good god, 48 THOUSAND rooms??

OscarTheGrinch2y ago

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

spdustin2y ago

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

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

AlotOfReading2y ago

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

dafelst2y ago

1 more reply

codex_irlOP2y ago

tpmx2y ago

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.

toast02y ago

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

thakoppno2y ago

[0] https://www.crutchfield.com/S-9Pd3SuUnpX0/p_158STHD100/Sony-...

jdofaz2y ago

I think I started watching that show because it was in HD

therealcamino2y 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.

FearNotDaniel2y ago

> just

https://www.engadget.com/2018-06-22-babylon-5-digital-video-...

1 more reply

plasticsoprano2y ago

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

photonthug2y ago

tilne2y ago

RyanAdamas2y ago

Does somebody have a magnetron?

karaterobot2y ago

The linked article is down, here's an archive https://web.archive.org/web/20230911174437/https://www.casin...

Though the article itself says details are scant, so it's just going to be speculation. I'd love to know what happened though.

Animats2y ago

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

nhggfu2y ago

lots of igaming hacks of late.

other notables: Australia's crown resorts was hacked a while back (March 2023) https://gamblingindustrynews.com/news/australia/crown-potent...

tunnuz2y ago

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

nosmokewhereiam2y 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 $$$$$$

hnburnsy2y ago

Rumors that Ceasars was hit last week...

https://www.casino.org/vitalvegas/mgm-resorts-receives-colos...

VFIT7CTO77TOC2y ago

Reminds me of https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/27/technology/security/iran-ha...

monksy2y 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?

bigbillheck2y ago

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

allenrb2y ago

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

andy8002y ago

Your opinion is valid, however I'm currently on a plane heading there, likely a third of the passengers won't be able to check into their hotel. Same with dozens of planes. Kinda sucks for them.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse