A major Canadian casino has fallen victim to a cyberattack which saw sensitive customer, employee and vendor data stolen.
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]asino Rama Resort in Ontario has advised its customers, vendors and current and former staff to keep watch on their bank accounts, credit cards and other financial information following a security breach.
The casino was alerted on 4 November after being contacted by a hacker. While the perpetrator has not been identified, the resort’s management has stated that there is no evidence that the hacker is still inside its computer systems although it acknowledged the possibility that sensitive information could be published on the internet.
The casino and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) are working with federal and provincial police as well as cybersecurity experts to investigate the breach.
However in the weeks following the incident the casino found itself amongst six named defendants in a $50m class action lawsuit bought by Charney Lawyers and Sutts, Strosberg.
We still do not know the whole story but it looks like Casino Rama rolled the dice with employee, customer and vendor data rather than invest in state-of-the-art security measures.
“This is a massive privacy breach,” said Ted Charney, one of the lawyers involved in the lawsuit. “We still do not know the whole story but it looks like Casino Rama rolled the dice with employee, customer and vendor data rather than invest in state-of-the-art security measures.”
Situated on a Rama First Nation reserve to the north of Toronto, the casino is run by CHC Casinos Canada, an indirect subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, under license from the province’s gaming operator.
Receiving roughly three million visitors a year and generating $348.3m (E236.7m) gross gaming revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2015, Casino Rama hosts 2,500 slot machines and 110 gaming tables, alongside a 300-room hotel.
The cyberattack marks the second time this year that a casino based on aboriginal land has fallen victim to a hack, following a breach at Alberta’s River Cree Resort and Casino in March.
