MGM Resorts has been hit with a new class action alleging data safeguarding failures related to the September hacking incident.
MGM Resorts has been hit with a new class action lawsuit, alleging data safeguarding failures related to the September hacking incident.
The suit was filed by personal injury law firm THE702FIRM Injury Attorneys and claims personal information viewed by hackers has caused irreparable harm to members of MGM’s loyalty programme.
It follows a September cyberattack incident in which a group called BlackCat compromised the Las Vegas tentpole’s systems and seized its customer’s personal data.
The attack triggered major outages at multiple properties and led to a $100m hit to the business’ Q3 EBITDA.
Stolen information included names, contact information, genders, dates of birth, and driver’s license numbers, as well as a limited number of social security and passport numbers.
The suit said: “MGM’s carelessness, negligence, and lack of oversight and supervision caused its customers to lose all sense of privacy.
“In addition to facing the emotional devastation of having such personal information fall into the wrong hands, plaintiffs and class members must now undertake additional security measures and precautions to minimize their risk of identity theft.”
Class action accuses MGM of negligence
The suit argues the plaintiff’s class member’s rights were disregarded by MGM’s “negligent and reckless” failure to take adequate and reasonable measures to ensure its data systems were secure.
It added that MGM failed to disclose the material fact it did not have adequate information security controls to safeguard personally identifiable information.
The suit requests compensatory damages, reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiffs, the suit said, will likely be required to purchase lifetime subscriptions to identity theft protection and credit monitoring software.
The lawsuit argues MGM was aware of the inadequacy of its data security and failed to comply with its statutory and regulatory obligations.
The suit is not the only lawsuit MGM is facing related to the September hacking incident.
MGM is currently defending against at least three additional class action lawsuits related to the breach.
Most recently, a class action was filed in February on behalf of Kemp Jones LLP alleging negligence related to the breach, leading to identity theft.
MGM are also facing a Federal Trade Commission probe into the incident, in which the operator is challenging in court.
The FBI in December announced a major crackdown into the hacker groups responsible for the cyberattacks.
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