The FBI and the Pascua Yaqui Police Department are investigating a widespread system outage that occurred on February 21 at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
The cyberattack caused ATMs, credit card systems, Wi-Fi, TV and phones to go down. Table games shifted to cash-only play. “The electronic room keys weren’t working, so employees had to guide people to their rooms and open the doors for them,” a Casino del Sol guest told a Tucson TV news station.
In a February 27 statement, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, owners of the casino resort, said slots and slot ticketing returned to normal and the poker room, gaming tables and sportsbook are operating.
The property’s bars and restaurants still were operating as cash-only and could not process gift certificates and vouchers. Bingo remained closed until further notice, promotional kiosks remain unavailable, the phone system remains down and the cage is cashing in slot tickets and gaming cheques; no cash services are available. The Club Sol rewards program also is offline, the Tribe said.
Casino officials posted on social media, “An outside attempt was made to access Casino Del Sol’s systems. We are working with the Pascua Yaqui Police Department and the FBI. Please stand by for updates. We extend our sincerest apologies for any disruption or concern this incident may have caused to our valued guests. Your trust and security remain our top priorities.”
It’s not clear whether the attack included a ransom demand, however, crypto analysts said it resembles other ransomware attacks. The crypto analytics firm Chainanalysis recently reported ransom payments to cybercriminals nearly doubled to a record $1.1 billion last year. Also, hacking groups increasingly target large companies, including casinos for bigger payoffs.
