The Las Vegas Strip has long been a romantic place for crime. When you watch a movie like "Oceans 11," the director manages to make you root for the criminals.
They're somehow the good guys because they're stealing from casinos, the place that usually takes money from people.
Though casino operators run legal businesses, Las Vegas's mob days give the city a little bit of a disreputable shine even though its big players Caesars Entertainment (CZR) -) and MGM Resorts International are publicly traded companies.
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Today's Las Vegas Strip casinos still guard against old-school theft, but no matter how easy the movies make it look, it's almost impossible to physically steal from a Las Vegas casino. Cameras are everywhere, and security measures you may not know about are in place.
The days of taking someone who counts cards into the back room to break their legs may be over, but you better believe the casino sees anything that happens on its gaming floor. That's also true of the cage -- the place where chips and tickets get exchanged for cash -- the vaults and any potentially vulnerable location.
What's harder to protect against, however, is digital crimes. Hackers continue to evolve, cyberattacks remain a real possibility, and Caesars and MGM Resorts International (MGM) -) spend tens, maybe hundreds, of millions of dollars to keep up.
One of those attacks apparently occurred on Sept. 11, when a cyberattack heavily affected credit-card transactions at MGM Resorts' resort-casinos, not just those on the Strip but around the country.
Image source: Robert Mora/Getty Images
MGM appears to have faced a cyberattack
People who attempted to reserve hotel rooms at various MGM properties on Sept. 11 were not able to do so. Other computerized systems also appear to have been compromised, and MGM has taken some of its technology offline to limit the damage, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The casino operator sent the paper a statement confirming the attack. That statement was sent via a Gmail address because MGM had taken down its email system.
MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems,” a statement from the company — delivered from a Gmail address because company email is down — said Monday morning (9/11).
"Promptly after detecting the issue, we quickly began an investigation with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts. We also notified law enforcement and took prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems.”
MGM has been directing anyone looking to make a reservation at one of its properties to call the hotel rather than use its online systems.
The company did say that as of late night on Sept. 11 it was fully operational, but it also said that some workarounds were being used to make that happen.
The company did not speculate on the nature of the cyberattack, who was behind it, or what it was seeking to accomplish. Law enforcement has been brought in to investigate.
MGM properties do now require guests to check out at the front desk, as some automated systems remain down. In some cases, hotel guests will also need to ask for a physical key because digital keys may not work.
The casino operator has not said when it expects to fully return to normal operations.
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