Las Vegas Sands Sites Back Up, Hackers Jeer at Company
Almost exactly a week after its web sites had to be taken down due to a hack attack, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation was able to restore functionality to the sites on Monday, this according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Tuesday that the alleged hackers have posted a taunting video to YouTube, suggesting that they were able to do more damage than simply to take out the Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s email servers.
Hackers refer to Sands chairman as “Bloody Sheldon Adelson”
While the investigation into last week’s security breach is being investigated by the United States Secret Service, the FBI, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and other agencies, so far those behind the incident haven’t been unmasked.
In the wake of the hacking incident, sites for Sands properties in Nevada, Pennsylvania, as well as in Asia were inaccessible. Sands employees reportedly also were without access to corporate email for several days and in some cases it was reported that staff could not access their work computers at all.
Video suggests scope of attack much broader than company may have realized
In the YouTube video, which runs 11 minutes in length, those thought to be behind the attack display confidential company information such as passwords, information about Sands personnel, and other supposedly secure information.
A small caption accompanying the video reads, “This is the Second Alarm for Bloody Sheldon Adelson. It will all end in tears for him and anyone who sh*ts like him.”
In text printed over the video shots, the hackers asked, “Do you really think that only your mail server has been taken down?!! Like hell it has!!”
The full video can be found here.
In a statement, Las Vegas Sands spokesperson Ron Reese said, “We have now determined that the hackers reached at least some of the company’s internal drives in the U.S. containing some office productivity information made up largely of documents and spreadsheets.”
“We are reviewing the video to determine what, if any, customer or employee data may have been accessed,” Reese continued.
Controversial Iran statements said to have motivated strike
The hackers have said that comments Sheldon Adelson made last fall with regard to Iran – and specifically his personal desire to see the United States employ nuclear weapons against Iran – as the reason for the cyberattack. Adelson has long been a prominent GOP backer and is vocally pro-Israel.
Sheldon Adelson is no stranger to controversy, as he is almost as well-known for his inflammatory views and remarks as he is for being at the helm of one of the world’s most recognizable casino companies, not to mention the fact that he is the eleventh wealthiest person in the United States.
Adelson also persona non grata in gambling community
When not inflaming the hackers of the world, Adelson has managed to stay busy earning the ire of the gambling community via his efforts to stamp out access to regulated online wagering in the U.S. Some months ago, he formed the well-bankrolled Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, which is working to stop the spread of legalized online betting both at the state and federal level.
In response, a new group called the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, or C4COP, formed in direct opposition to Adelson’s group.
C4COP, which has the backing of MGM, the Poker Players Alliance, the American Gaming Association (a lobbying group to which the Las Vegas Sands Corporation belongs), and others is working to spread a message that is essentially the exact opposite of that being put forward by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.
C4COP posits that regulating Internet gambling will, in short, make the industry more transparent and safer, effectively eliminating many of the concerns that Adelson and his cronies have said cause online gambling to be a “toxin” that will be detrimental to all Americans.
