Rivers Casino Des Plaines hit by major data breach

Cyber-attacks on gambling companies appear to be a trend among hackers, as last week, the owners of Rivers Casino Des Plaines reported a cyber incident. 

The data breach reportedly stayed unnoticed for months – it happened in August but was discovered and patched in November. Rivers Casino has begun notifying employees and customers that fraudsters have stolen their personal information.

The casino management also offers the affected individuals free credit monitoring tools. 

Sensitive information stolen

The details of online sportsbooks and physical customers are likely included in the stolen info. This cyber incident is different from others. This time criminals stole extremely sensitive information such as social security numbers (SSN) and driver’s license records. 

That is not all, as tax ID numbers, bank account numbers, and passport numbers have also been accessed by criminals. Rivers Casino stated that the hackers did not steal passwords and credit card information.

However, other information likely stolen from Rivers Casino also includes email addresses, cell numbers, physical addresses, and birth dates. The type of information varies by individual, but it could consist of everything bad actors need to commit financial fraud or identity theft. 

Identity theft remains a significant risk

Currently, there is no information on who is behind the attack, and it is unknown whether the hackers asked for a ransom. 

The number of people potentially affected by the breach is also unknown. Rivers Casino Des Plaines is the most profitable casino in the state of Illinois and gets millions of visitors per month, so the number of affected people is likely not low.

Casino operations unaffected by breach

Unlike the ransom attack that crippled MGM Resorts, Rivers Casino did not have any interruptions in their day-to-day operations.

Rivers Casino also said that other casinos have not been impacted by the breach nor their Betrivers online or mobile gaming platform. 

They also mentioned that there is no evidence that the fraudsters have used the stolen data. However, cyber security researchers won’t be surprised if the stolen info goes up for sale on the dark web soon. 

FBI Warns of increased casino attacks

Reports for more casino attacks are likely pending as earlier this month; the FBI issued a Private Industry Notification saying that bad actors use new trends to attack gambling establishments.

Antivirus protection and checking credit reports are strongly advisable if you plan on “rolling the dice” during the festive period.