One day after reporting a massive data breach, Caesars Entertainment, which operates eight hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, faces a class action that looks to hold the hotel and casino giant liable for exposing its customers' personal information to hackers, reports Courthouse News Service. Miguel Rodriguez, filed the suit in federal court in Nevada, on behalf of himself and other members of Caesars' loyalty programs, who are now at risk of cybercriminals using the six terabytes of stolen sensitive information to take out loans using customers’ identities, file fraudulent tax returns and obtain false identifications and phony driver licenses. Rodriguez claimed that Caesars' — which owns and operates dozens of hotel and casino properties under its Caesars, Eldorado and Harrah's brands— was negligent in its data security efforts and that customers were not informed of the issue in a timely manner. He notes that although Caesars disclosed the attack on Sept. 14, the company did not explain to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission the breadth of the breach.
According to Rodriguez, Caesars failed to maintain their network, software and technology partners, rendering the business “easy prey” for cybercriminals to exploit. The suit claims the customers affected will suffer ongoing harm from fraud and identity theft, and customers must constantly monitor their financial accounts.
Rodriguez is seeking a number of remedies, including compensatory damages, treble damages, punitive damages, reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs, and injunctive relief, including improvements to Caesars'. security systems. "We have taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor, although we cannot guarantee this result," Caesars Entertainment said.. The Thursday disclosure of the Caesars data breach came after MGM Resorts International disclosed its own data breach Monday. MGM — another major player on the Las Vegas Strip — experienced widespread disruption after being hit by cybercriminals.