Cache Creek Casino in Northern California Experiences Cyberattack
It was found out through an interview with reporters at the Sacramento Bee that the Cache Creek Casino and Resort experienced a major breach in cybersecurity back in mid-September. The tribal casino claims that it hired experts in the field and fixed the issue right away. However, bettors and consumers were not even made aware of the attack until October 13th, when the casino reopened. Then, patrons were told that their information may or may not have been taken.
This is not a good look for the casino. While the resort is not the first to experience an attack, considering MGM Resorts suffered a major break that compromised millions of customers, it is still worrying. Whenever information is compromised and then it takes weeks for customers to find out that their information may be in the hands of individuals looking to do harm, it is a major issue.
Cyberattacks on these casinos are not going to slow down. Casinos hold tons of very private information, as well as tons of money. It has to be one of the prime targets for many cybercriminals. With many of California’s casinos being privately owned by tribes, there are questions as to whether these groups have enough capital to properly protect the sensitive information that they hold.
What is Next?
I would argue that there has to be some kind of legislation and regulation done on the casinos in California to make sure that these attacks do not happen again. The security of bettors’ information should be as important as the regulations on return to player percentages. However, it seems that lawmakers in California are behind on this. It needs to be one of the top priorities for consumers to know that they are safe when using these casinos and resorts. Consumers also need to be told in a more timely fashion when their information is at risk of being compromised.
The argument can be made that this is a massive point for those arguing for the statewide legalization of sports gambling. Major sportsbooks like DraftKings, FanDuel, and William Hill have years of experience operating websites. One thing that they specialize in is security and protecting their consumers’ information and their millions of dollars.
If a law required these sportsbooks to partner with tribal casinos, then they could massively upgrade and improve the current security and tech that the casinos have. The influx of money into making betting safe in California would be like nothing we have ever seen before. Every major sportsbook wants to be in California, and they would spend whatever it takes to get in and make sure that their online sportsbook is safe.
Weirdly enough, allowing online and mobile betting with these major companies would probably be safer for consumers than giving your information to these singular casinos who store it online with minimal security or regulation. This is something that will surely be brought up in the next round of talks about California sports betting and online gaming during the next legislative session.
Only time will tell what direction the policymakers go in. One thing is for sure; something needs to be done to protect consumers from cyber attacks.
