Turning Stone casinos move to cash only after cyber incident
Oneida Nation gaming operator Turning Stone Enterprises shut down internal systems after a cybersecurity incident disrupted card payments, ATMs, sports betting and bingo at three New York properties.
Turning Stone Enterprises has restricted transactions to cash across three of its upstate New York properties after a cybersecurity incident forced key operational systems offline.
The commercial arm of the Oneida Nation reported the incident on Monday, saying certain internal systems had been taken offline as a protective measure once its network and communications were affected.
Tuesday's shutdown stopped credit-card transactions at Point Place Casino in Bridgeport, YBR Casino & Sports Book in Chittenango, and the flagship resort in Verona, while also disabling ATMs, sports betting and bingo operations.
Other Turning Stone Enterprises businesses, including The Lake House at Sylvan Beach and the Maple Leaf Markets and SavOn convenience stores, were likewise limited to cash transactions.
The company said the system shutdowns were intended to protect customers' personal information while cybersecurity specialists investigate, but it has not disclosed what caused the incident or whether outside actors were involved.
Utica television station WKTV reported that Turning Stone said on Monday no evidence had yet surfaced of confidential data being accessed, with the inquiry still underway.
TS Rewards, the loyalty scheme through which customers accumulate points for gaming, hotel stays, dining and shop purchases, was also knocked offline by the outage.
Syracuse station WSYR reported that the company posted a statement to Facebook saying its team was "working at full speed with cybersecurity experts to return to full working order," though no timeline was given. Management said it would issue daily evening updates on service availability until all systems are restored.
Commercial and tribal casinos across North America have faced a growing number of serious cyberattacks in recent years, including ransomware operations that have disabled property networks and exposed customer data, as reported by Casino.org News.
The FBI has said tribal casinos can be attractive targets because attackers may perceive them as having weaker cybersecurity defences and fewer resources to counter sophisticated threats.
Gaming operators more broadly are seen as lucrative targets given their high transaction volumes, large customer data holdings and reliance on interconnected digital systems, which hands attackers significant leverage once networks go dark.
MGM Resorts International experienced a comparable episode in September 2023, when a cyberattack knocked out hotel reservations, casino transactions and other services at its properties across the United States; the company later put the cost to its third-quarter earnings at about $100 million.