The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of the Chippewa Indians announced on Sunday night that Kewadin Casinos would be temporarily closed because of a cyberattack. The tribe operates five casinos in the Upper Peninsula, but did not specify which locations have been shut down.
The attack does not appear to have impacted the tribe’s Michigan online casino, which is partnered with Horseshoe. The platform is relatively new to the market, having launched in October 2024.
The tribe posted a message on its Facebook page after 10 p.m. on Sunday night, which read:
“This morning, we experienced a data security incident that impacted our gaming operations. We immediately enlisted the help of third-party experts to determine how this incident was caused and to restore our gaming operations as quickly as possible. That investigation is ongoing.
“Beginning Monday, February 10 at 7 a.m. our gaming operations will be halted until further notice. We understand that this is inconvenient and unexpected news. Please know our experts are working around-the-clock to restore gaming operations.
“We apologize for this inconvenience.”
No word of potential data breach
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe has not provide further details on the type of cyberattack, and whether customers’ sensitive data is at risk. However, the tribe appears to have spotted the issue earlier in the day.
Sault Tribe Chairman, Austin Lowes, said in statement that he hopes the situation is resolved within the week but is “prepared for it to last longer.” All other updates will be made on the tribe’s Facebook page.
In addition to gaming operations, computer and phone systems across tribal administration, including the casinos, health centers and various businesses have been affected.
Hacking and social engineering attacks on other casinos have resulted in a spate of data breaches in recent years. MGM Resorts International recently agreed to a $45 million settlement in lawsuits stemming from two such incidents. Caesars and, most recently, Rush Street Gaming are also facing litigation relating to data breaches.
After 3 p.m. on Sunday, the tribe made a Facebook post announcing that the Manistique, Christmas and Hessel casinos were closed because of a “technical issue.” The post continued with the following message:
“Kewadin hotels are open to current guests but unavailable for check-in. Kewadin Casinos Sault Ste Marie and St. Ignace gaming floors remain open at this time. We are working to correct these issues and will provide further updates here as they are available.”
To gather more details, the tribe’s website is not working, either. It says the “origin is unreachable,” which indicates that the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe has been impacted.
Other similar attacks at Michigan casinos
MGM Grand Detroit experienced a data breach in September 2023, which resulted in a partial shutdown of computer systems.
MGM resorts published a press release that compromised the following customer details:
- Customer name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Postal address
- Gender
- Date of birth
- Driver’s license number
Lisa Plaggemier, the Executive Director at National Cybersecurity Alliance, spoke to PlayMichigan in October 2023. She predicted incidents would continue to happen:
“The problem isn’t going to go away any time soon, the Internet was not built to be secure. It’s just the way it is.”
Plaggemier’s claim was spot on. Rivers Casino Philadelphia in Pennsylvania experience a similar breach around the holidays, and is facing class action lawsuits because of it.
Once there’s more information released about severity of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe, PlayMichigan will keep you updated.
