LAS VEGAS - The FBI and Secret Service are investigating the
hacking of the Las Vegas Sands casino company’s websites, which remained down
more than a day after they were hijacked.
The company’s corporate site, as well as the home pages of
the Italian-themed Venetian and Palazzo casinos in Las Vegas, displayed a
screen Wednesday that said they were down for maintenance.
The message provided
phone numbers for all Sands properties, but not emails, because the hacking
knocked that system out too.
Patrons can still make reservations through third-party
sites.
Sands spokesman Ron Reese declined to say whether the
company is aware of credit card records being stolen.
“While we have been able to confirm that certain core
operating systems were not impacted by the hacking, the company remains focused
on working through a step-by-step process to ascertain what, if any, additional
systems may have been impacted,” Reese said in a statement.
FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer said the FBI and Secret
Service were investigating. The Secret Service is charged with safeguarding the
country’s financial systems.
The Nevada State Gaming Control Board was also investigating
the cyberattack.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. runs the largest casino in the world
in the Chinese gambling enclave in Macau. It also owns hotel-casinos in
Singapore and Bethlehem, Pa.
The first sign that the company’s systems might have been
breached came Monday morning, when email went down. By Tuesday morning, hackers
had taken control of all Sands sites, posting what looked like a clip-art
collage featuring a map with flames where Sands casinos are located, a snapshot
of Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson posing with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, and a message condemning the use of weapons of mass destruction. The
hackers also posted employee Social Security numbers and signed their work,
“Anti WMD Team.”
Adelson, who is known for his fiery personality, has been
outspoken in his support for Israel. In October, he floated the idea of
dropping a nuclear bomb on Iran, saying strength was the only thing the country
understands.
He suggested that the U.S. could begin negotiations over the
country’s nuclear program by launching a strike on the Iranian desert and
threatening to bomb Tehran next.
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