Cybercriminals claim to have stolen six terabytes of data from MGM and Caesars.
A criminal organization has taken credit for recent cyberattacks on MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, asserting they took away six terabytes of data from the casino conglomerates.
Scattered Spider, an international hacking group, has admitted to the cyber attacks, with MGM falling victim last Sunday. The company's Las Vegas and U.S. operations continue experiencing disruption following the incident, as MGM refuses to pay a ransom.
Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment opted for a different strategy, disclosing through a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday that it had paid a ransom following a September 7 attack on its Caesars Rewards database. While Caesars was silent about the exact ransom amount, reports indicate a $15 million settlement was reached. Scattered Spider initially requested $30 million.
Reuters managed to connect with Scattered Spider's representatives using Telegram, a social media messaging platform. The news outlet claims it received information about the source from a cybersecurity expert who had access to the platform during a 2019 MGM hack.
Looted Data
Talking to Reuters, a Scattered Spider representative confirmed their successful hack of Caesars led to the acquisition of personal data concerning the casino's loyalty program members. The seized records encompassed driver's licenses and Social Security numbers.
The Scattered Spider rep refused to elaborate on MGM's hack, only confirming that it yielded substantial gains for the criminal group. Asked if the group would release the data, they gave an ambiguous response.
"If MGM intend to release that information, they will. We don't do that," the Scattered Spider representative said.
The group also refrained from divulging how much of the stolen six terabytes of data derived from MGM.
One terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes. Dropbox explains on its site that this amount can store approximately 6.5 million document pages.
Vulnerability Exploited
Cybersecurity professionals believe large enterprises like MGM and Caesars devote significant resources to their IT security, making successful hacks the result of human error and duped security officials.
Scattered Spider is infamous for pretending to be company employees. They frequently make phone calls to IT departments, frequently employing a scam where a hacker claims to be an employee needing their email or login password reset.
Drew Schmitt, practice lead at cybersecurity consultancy GuidePoint Security, described Scattered Spider's capabilities to the Verge, emphasizing their pronounced social engineering skills.
"Scattered Spider is well known for possessing exceptional social engineering abilities that other groups lack, largely due to their supposedly substantial presence in the United States, a trait many other groups do not share," Schmitt said.
"In the case of the MGM hack, a lot of focus has been placed on the social engineering phone call, which led to extensive compromise within a massive organization. However, we don't yet have the full story, and though this method of breach displays some potential weaknesses in cybersecurity protocols, there's likely more to this intrusion than meets the eye."
"Scattered Spider is incredibly dedicated and relentless in their operations. Without the social engineering attempt, this could have been a different attack relying on more technical methods. Sometimes, luck plays a part in successful attacks," Schmitt concluded.
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