A cybersecurity incident has caused some recent financial difficulties for the co-owner of BetMGM, but the operator of online sports betting sites says an issue of its own has come and gone.
MGM Resorts International — a 50% partner in BetMGM with Entain PLC — disclosed it was the victim of a cyberattack last month that it says prompted a shutdown of certain systems and allowed “criminal actors” to obtain some customer data.
While MGM says operations have returned to normal, the disruptive incident came at a cost. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday, the Las Vegas-based gaming company said the September cyberattack will not have a material effect on its finances but will still cost it around $100 million in adjusted property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and rent (EBITDAR).
The incident underscored the chaos cyber incidents can cause for companies, especially in the gaming industry.
“While no company can ever eliminate the risk of a cyber attack, the Company has taken significant measures, working with industry-leading third-party experts, to further enhance its system safeguards,” MGM added in its filing. “These efforts are ongoing.”
Another issue resolved
Questions were asked about what, if any, effect there was on BetMGM. However, even though the cyber incident affected some BetMGM-branded sports-betting kiosks at physical gaming properties, the online version was supposedly unaffected.
Still, that did not stop some social media users from voicing their concerns this week after an issue apparently arose at BetMGM. One social media group even claimed "hackers" were draining BetMGM accounts.
But BetMGM maintains the issue that cropped up earlier this week was unrelated to the MGM incident and that, whatever it was, is fixed.
“We are aware of a technical issue earlier that resulted in some customers experiencing delays or difficulty accessing their accounts,” BetMGM told Covers in a statement. “That issue has been resolved.”
Help available
MGM, meanwhile, said in its SEC filing this week that it does not believe any customer passwords or banking information was compromised. It added that it has seen no evidence the data obtained has been used for identity theft.
Even so, MGM set up a dedicated helpline to take questions about the matter (800-621-9437) and a designated webpage (www.mgmresorts.com/importantinformation) to provide information.
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