Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino in Southern Nevada has confirmed a data breach that exposed confidential information of more than 55,000 customers. The Laughlin, NV, resort began notifying state attorneys general and affected consumers on September 5 that it had detected a breach that reportedly occurred on July 24, 2024.
The unauthorized party allegedly gained access to sensitive customer information, including names and Social Security numbers. Riverside Resort’s Assistant General Manager, Matthew Laughlin, communicated in a notification letter to impacted customers that the resort had immediately engaged forensic specialists in cybersecurity and data privacy to investigate the incident.
“Upon discovery, Riverside immediately engaged forensic specialists in cybersecurity and data privacy to investigate further. Through this investigation, Riverside determined that an unauthorized third party potentially accessed and acquired certain files during this incident,” wrote Laughlin. “Data security is one of our highest priorities. Upon detecting this incident, we moved quickly to initiate an investigation. We promptly disabled all relevant accounts and worked with our third-party specialists to confirm the security of our environment.”
So far, there have been no reports of the stolen information being used for malicious activities. Nonetheless, the resort has urged those affected to monitor their credit reports and scores for any suspicious activity and to inform their banks and financial institutions about the breach. The data breach spans across residents of Nevada, Arizona, and California, with repercussions even reaching patrons in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In response, Riverside is offering free credit monitoring services to all affected individuals.
This incident adds to the growing list of cyberattacks targeting the U.S. gaming industry. The FBI has cautioned tribal casinos about becoming prime targets for hackers. Notably, cyber concerns in the gaming sector intensified when hackers successfully breached MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment last year. Riverside has not disclosed whether any ransom was demanded or paid. MGM had refused to pay a ransom, resulting in operational losses exceeding $100 million, while Caesars opted to pay a $15 million ransom to restore its IT systems.
Don Laughlin, the founder of the resort, purchased Nevada’s southern tip, then known as South Pointe, in 1954 and opened Riverside in 1966. The original establishment featured just eight motel rooms, 12 slot machines, two table games, and an all-you-can-eat chicken dinner priced at 98 cents. Over the decades, Riverside has expanded to offer more than 1,400 guestrooms, a dozen restaurants and bars, a 2,650-seat concert venue, a movie theater, and a 34-lane bowling alley. The gaming floor now includes over 1,200 slot machines, two dozen tables, a poker room, and a William Hill Sportsbook.
Despite these changes, the Laughlin family remains the owners of Riverside. Don Laughlin passed away last October at the age of 92. He had originally wanted the remote Nevada town to be named Riverside, but the U.S. Postal Service opted for Laughlin instead. Today, the town is home to several other casinos, including Harrah’s, Laughlin River Lodge, Golden Nugget, Edgewater, and Tropicana.
