Locked OUT: Thousands of Guests at Las Vegas MGM Resorts Unable to Get in Hotel Rooms After Cyber Attack, FBI Assisting Investigation
Sept. 11 2023, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
MGM Resorts International confirmed they have identified a "cybersecurity issue" that led to thousands of guests on the famed Las Vegas strip being locked out of their hotel rooms as their digital keys no longer worked, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Aria, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, and Bellagio are just a few of their hotspots. On the main webpage, it now states, "The MGM Resorts website is currently unavailable."
Company emails have been impacted, and some slot machines at the company's casinos now display an Out of Service message on a plain blue screen.
Over the weekend, some Sin City visitors told 8newsnow.com they could not access their hotel rooms on Sunday night using digital key cards, revealing credit card machines there were also not functional at the time.
Not only did many restaurants have to resort to a cash-only payment, but guests were unable to charge expenses to their rooms.
It's unknown if those outages are correlated with the cybersecurity issue.
"Promptly after detecting the issue, we quickly began an investigation with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts," the company announced in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
"We also notified law enforcement and took prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are working diligently to determine the nature and scope of the matter."
On Monday, ABC News revealed the FBI is assisting in the investigation, confirming the bureau has been in contact with MGM Resorts since last morning.
"MGM Resorts has about 48,000 rooms on The Strip. Devastating," Vital Vegas, a casino industry account, posted amid the hack.
Social media claims have emerged that the hackers allegedly requested a large ransom. "Casinos never talk about this, but a good number have paid up in the past. Recent changes in SEC rules means public companies can't make secret deals (such as paying ransoms) anymore. Expect a stunning number of incidents to be reported," the account clarified after receiving questions about the unsubstantiated rumor.
Meanwhile, officials from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they have been informed. "These types of incidents are typically handled by federal law enforcement agencies," a LVMPD representative shared in a statement.
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Reservation systems and casino floors in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, were also impacted, MGM said.