Slovenian casinos reopen after cyberattack knocked gaming programs offline

One of Slovenia’s largest playing and tourism teams has begun reopening its casinos after a cyberattack pressured them to close down for a number of days.

Hit, which operates casinos, lodges and different tourism companies in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, said it detected a cybersecurity incident early final week. The assault on the corporate’s servers pressured six Hit-operated casinos to shut for roughly three days.

In a statement Friday, Hit mentioned it had restored sufficient of its IT infrastructure to steadily reopen the affected casinos, however some gaming features and its loyalty system remained unavailable. Guests had been initially restricted to a choice of slot-machine video games whereas the corporate labored to revive different programs and functions.

“Maintaining and further strengthening our IT infrastructure and security will remain one of the company’s development priorities going forward,” Sandi Bratasevec, chairman of Hit’s administration board, mentioned in an announcement.

Hit has not supplied an additional replace on whether or not operations have since absolutely returned to regular. As of Monday, the discover on the corporate’s web site nonetheless mentioned it was working on a restricted foundation, with desk video games and bingo not but out there.

The firm has disclosed few particulars concerning the assault, and has not mentioned whether or not any knowledge was stolen or disclosed how hackers gained entry to its programs. It has additionally not mentioned whether or not a ransom was demanded or paid.

“We cannot publicly comment on any further details of the information security incident because the investigation is still ongoing,” Hit mentioned.

Local media reported the disruption affected money registers at casinos, with some prospects receiving handwritten receipts at cafes. Hotel reception desks additionally skilled issues.

Some workers had been quickly furloughed as a result of programs wanted for regular on line casino operations had been unavailable. Hit later mentioned these employees had been returning to work as programs got here again on-line.

Slovenian police confirmed to native media that that they had been notified of the incident and had been investigating.

Casino and gaming corporations have repeatedly been focused by cybercriminals. Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming mentioned final yr that hackers had stolen worker info, though the incident didn’t disrupt its operations. Bragg Gaming Group additionally disclosed an assault affecting its laptop programs.

In 2023, ransomware assaults triggered main disruptions at U.S. on line casino operators MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment. MGM estimated the incident diminished its revenue by about $100 million, whereas Caesars disclosed that hackers stole buyer loyalty program knowledge.