“One thing that keeps me up at night is cyber-security. There are a lot of open barn doors that we have to close to keep the company safe from cyber-attacks and malware.”
—John Robert Bollen, chief information officer, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, on the threat to casinos from hackers
“People view it like an asteroid attack, with the chances of them being hit by one being pretty low, when actually it’s happening every day. Only two things I know have shut down casinos for weeks—the pandemic and a cyberattack. They’re both viruses.”
—Willy Allison, casino security expert, warning casino operators to take cyber-threats more seriously
“When you compare states to other states, you have to look at it like playing cards. You play your deck of cards. You can’t play somebody else’s cards. Basically, the people coming in are allowing the virus to arrive faster, allowing the virus to spread faster.”
—Ali Mokdad, University of Washington epidemiologist, who says Las Vegas is more vulnerable to Covid-19 because of its tourism-based population
“Go ahead and gamble. Now that we need money, the most sensible thing is really just to encourage those activities.”
—Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, who thinks gambling is “repugnant,” but supports it anyway as a revenue source
“The gambling industry has become the new cigarettes.”
—Alan Kelly, Irish Labour Party leader, on the addictive nature of gambling
