The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) is the latest victim of a cyber attack in the US gambling industry.
In a social media post, the NGCB confirmed that the reason the public-facing website it shares with the Nevada Gaming Commission has been inaccessible for the past few days is due to a targeted cyber attack. However, it noted that the attack did not result in any loss of sensitive data.
According to the NGCB, the website only provides information such as agency meeting agendas, press releases, public statistics, contact details, gaming regulations, and biographies of board and commission members. All gaming license details and financial records are stored on a separate internal state agency system which was not targeted in the cyber attack.
The Board, in a statement posted on social media, said:
“Technology personnel initiated immediate steps to protect the website by taking it offline. The board is working with experts to thoroughly assess the situation. While working to restore the full website, the board is preparing to publish a temporary website for those seeking access to information.”
The Nevada Gaming Commission’s monthly meeting proceeded as scheduled, with no mention of the incident. Reports in local press suggest that the NGCB is working on a temporary website that will be live as soon as possible.
Latest in a string of cyber attacks
The latest news follows a series of cyber attacks in last year. In August, Caesars Entertainment revealed that many members of its loyalty program had their personal information stolen during a cyberattack. The cyberattack, which targeted an IT support vendor, resulted in hackers accessing customers’ personal information in Caesars’ loyalty program database. When the first reports of the cyberattack emerged, it was revealed that Caesars allegedly paid out a ransom to the hacking group before the event was made public. A report by Bloomberg suggested that the hotel and casino operator paid as much as $30 million (€27.9 million) to hackers.
In September online casino and betting provider Stake.com was hacked by a North Korean hacking group, identified by the FBI as Lazarus Group, stealing $41.3 million (€38.4 million) in cryptocurrency.
As a result of the cyberattacks on both Caesars, at least five lawsuits have been filed in US courts. The lawsuits allege that the companies failed to provide sufficient protection for customers’ personal and financial information.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.