10-min phone call and a $100 million cost? September 2023. Someone called MGM's IT help desk, said they were…
Lara B. — Building Cyberr
10-min phone call and a $100 million cost?
September 2023.
Someone called MGM's IT help desk, said they were an employee, and asked to reset a password. The help desk said yes.
They didn't crack a single line of code.
It's the same trick as walking up to a hotel front desk, looking bored and slightly annoyed, and asking for a spare key to room 412. Confident enough, and most people just hand it over.
Once inside, a group called Scattered Spider took 6 terabytes of guest data and froze the servers running every hotel in MGM's network. Vegas. New York. Maryland. Slot machines dead. Room keys dead. A woman in the lobby at 11pm with two kids and luggage and no way to get into her room.
Ten days of that.
MGM reported $84 million in lost revenue. Another $10 million in cleanup. One quarter.
Every year the software gets smarter. Every year the humans stay the same.
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