Recently, Caesars Windsor Casino in Southwest Ontario contacted some of its patrons for a potential leak of personal information in connection to a cyber incident. This includes Judy Lemire and her husband, who are not regulars at the resort, but surprisingly still received letters from the establishment warning them about a possible breach in personal information.
Ms. Lemire admits that she has only been to the casino five or six times since it first opened its door, and as the couple recalls, their last visit to the gambling resort was prior to 2020. However, the two are among a number of past patrons who have received the same letter about a potential leak of personal information in recent weeks.
Impacting Database Information
Titled “Notice of Data Breach,” the letter from the casino resort points to a cybersecurity incident that the operator, Caesars Entertainment, first reported on September 14, 2023. In the letter, the company shares that the attack impacted its loyalty program database and that this database included information such as name and date of birth of players.
However, the operator said that it had no evidence that patron passwords, PINs, bank account information, or payment card numbers were impacted by the incident. Both Windsor Police and LaSalle Police confirmed that the letters are legitimate, but neither of the departments is involved in the investigation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations said the investigation is underway.
In its letter, the gambling operator noted that once it detected suspicious activity in the information technology network, it activated response protocols and tried to contain the issue. It stated that it has taken measures to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized body. But it did not comment if it paid ransom money to the hackers.
Currently, the corporation is monitoring the online space for any indication that the information has been shared, published, or misused. It is also offering letter recipients complimentary enrollment in an identity protection service by credit reporting company agency TransUnion Canada. Its service offers users credit and dark web monitoring for two years.
Gateway Casinos Also Subject of Cyber-Attack
Earlier this year, Gateway Casino & Entertainment, a premier operator of land-based casinos in Canada, suffered a similar cyber-attack. The incident in April shut down its 14 gaming properties across Ontario for over two weeks. After the issue was resolved, the company started a gradual reopening of its gaming locations before operations returned back to normal.
Then in June 2023, it was reported by the operator that the digital attack on its services may have led to a leak of personal information of current and former employees. The corporation said it was unaware of any misuse of personal information at the time. The gaming leader insists it took immediate measures to contain the incident while the investigation still remains open.
Source: Chen, Dalson “Some Caesars Windsor guests warned of potential info leak in hack” CBC News, November 15, 2023
