Will Atlantic City Casinos Be Subject to a Lawsuit Due to Recent Cyber Attacks?

Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International are two major casino gaming companies based in the United States. Both operate casinos in various states and were hit a few months ago with a major cyberattack. Properties were infiltrated across the board, including New Jersey casinos. The issue seemed to start in Las Vegas, and the companies are now facing lawsuits in three states due to the breach of personal information among players due to the hack. Will a lawsuit be filed in New Jersey next?

In October, several lawsuits were filed by players affected by the data breach. Illinois, Nevada, and New Jersey courts were used to file a claim against Caesars. MGM faces a filing in Nevada. The plaintiffs are saying that the companies did not protect their personal information.

We may see even more filings in the future as players start to realize that hackers obtained their personal information. The breach affected the Caesars Atlantic City Casino, Harrah’s, Tropicana, and Borgata in New Jersey. Caesars owns the first three casinos, and MGM manages the Borgata.

If a civil lawsuit were to be filed in the Garden State, the plaintiff must make a claim against MGM or Caesars. A case could go before the US District Court, and to win, the plaintiff would need to prove that the negligence of the casino operators caused damages.

Caesars was attacked first, and its computer systems were infiltrated, including the Caesars Rewards program. Information about customers, such as name, address, social security number, and more details, was obtained.

MGM was hit next, with its computer systems breached and personal data accessed as well. The land-based casinos of the brand were affected along with the online services via BetMGM.

It has been estimated that the attack against MGM Resorts could cost the company as much as $100 million. MGM revealed the expected financial impact during a public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The third quarter revenues of the company will be negatively affected due to the attack. The company does not feel the fourth quarter revenues will be harmed.

MGM could not offer its regular services during the attack and was shut down in several areas of service for quite some time. The Borgata in Atlantic City, along with venues in Nevada and other states, were hit with a ransomware attack, and it caused difficulty in using cash machines, reservation systems, and other computer programs.

Some locations were hit so hard that systems were down for two weeks. Visitors could not place reservations online, and the company relies on overnight stays for additional revenues. Loyalty card play was unavailable for slots, leading players to reduce venue spending.

Members of MGM’s online gaming brand, BetMGM, were affected as well. Personal information was breached, leading to hackers trying to log in to player accounts consistently. BetMGM does include a text alert to log in, so players affected could note if someone was trying to get into their account and change the password.

If the company loses $100 million due to the cyberattack, it will be the biggest loss of a company due to this type of infiltration in the history of the United States. And it most likely won’t be the end of this type of attack. Operators will need to work steadily to control the security of online and land-based services to ensure that a data breach cannot take place in the future. Updates must be consistent to prevent potential hackers from infiltrating consumer data.