The Las Vegas Sands hotel and casino has admitted that some client data was stolen earlier this month when hackers were able to breach its security. The hotel is just the latest in what seems to be an ever growing list of businesses falling prey to hackers looking to make a buck from other people’s information.
Earlier in the month, the hotel admitted that it had been hacked but wouldn’t say what information was taken if anything at all. It turns out “some” client data was taken after all. Bloomberg points out that the company seems to be downplaying the breach but information taken could cause a problem for guests.
The Las Vegas Sands posted on its website on Friday that among the information stolen were guests’ Social Security and driver’s license numbers, and may also involve bank and credit-card data. Initial reports directly after the attack indicated defacing the website and knocking out company emails was the extent of the attack.
What was once being as portrayed as nothing more than a little annoyance could end up being rather serious when the smoke clears. Companies are never wanting to be all that forthcoming when they are talking about what customer information they have left vulnerable. Target is the best example of this, considering the company continually downplayed the effects of its own run in with hackers.
After reports indicated a severe data breaches, banks went to work replacing customers’ debit and credit cards in order to cover those who might have had their financial data stolen. As of the end of February, the Sands is still claiming the total number of people affected by its breach is relatively small.
The hotel and casino claims that less than one percent of the total number of its visitors since opening in 2009 were at risk. That number still means that tens of thousands of guests could have had enough information taken to successfully steal their identities.
Much like Target has done since it was attacked, the hotel says it is notifying banks and credit monitoring services for its customers. The Las Vegas vacation spot is also offering up a number of different tools for former guests to better guard their data while the fallout continues.
At the moment, the company claims it is not able to estimate the financial impact that hacking had. It seems likely the Las Vegas Sands won’t know the full financial fallout for at least a few months.