MGM Resorts Data Breach Might Be Bigger Than Expected, Details of 142 Million Guests Reportedly on Dark Web

MGM Resorts had suffered a data breach last year and it was reported that personal information such as name, email address, and mobile number of roughly 10.6 million (1.06 crore) guests were compromised. However, it appears the data breach was much larger than initially reported, and it is reported that over 142 million (14.2 crore) MGM Hotel guests' data might have been impacted. According to a report, the latest data breach-information of MGM guests came to light over the weekend after a hacker posted an advertisement on a dark web cybercrime marketplace. The hacker appeared to be selling information for $2,940 (roughly Rs. 2.21 lakhs).

The hacker had allegedly obtained MGM guests' data from a US-based cybersecurity company, ZDNet reported. The cybersecurity company, Night Lion Security; however, denied the hacker's claim and told the news outlet that it never owned a copy of the full MGM database. Night Lion Security added that the hacker is further trying to ruin the company's reputation after it faced a data breach recently.

What is MGM saying over the latest data breach information

ZDNet report further claims that MGM Resorts are aware of the scope of the data breach; however, it is unclear whether all the affected guests were notified.

The company that owns popular hotel chains such as Bellagio, Aria, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Park MGM, Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur in Las Vegas, had faced a data breach in summer 2019 when attackers accessed a cloud server that contained information of certain previous guests of MGM Resorts.

The development came to light in February this year, when the leaked data appeared on a hacking forum. MGM had never made the security breach public, but notified impacted customers, the report stated.

Meanwhile, the news outlet was able to verify that the compromised data (both from February and now) does not contain financial information, ID or Social Security numbers of guests.

"The MGM data could be even bigger than the 142 million," ZDNet report added.

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