Some of the world’s most skilled hackers burrow into the computers of large companies, hospitals and cities. These places are supposed to have effective countermeasures, but they are not effective enough. The hackers sometimes ask for a ransom to allow these systems to work again. A number of the targets have no choice. They cannot function without their software systems. (These are 22 notorious unsolved crimes in American history.)
[in-text-ad]
The latest victim of hacker activity is entertainment giant MGM. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, MGM Resorts International is losing $4.2 million to $8.4 million every day. This translates into about $1 million in daily cash flow. According to the Review-Journal, an analyst at Jeffries reports MGM could suffer this damage “for the days that the current conditions exist.”
[nativounit]
The damage has started to spread. People cannot make reservations at MGM online. They need to call on a phone—the old-fashioned way. Some employees may not have been paid on time, though that is a rumor.
[wallst_email_signup]
The news shows that these incidents are spreading, and businesses have not found a solution. Hospital chain MercyOne, which provides software service for several locations, was hacked less than a year ago. Baltimore and Atlanta have also been victims.
[recirclink id=1310583]
This problem will get worse, perhaps much worse, as cybercriminals become more skilled and daring. Cities, hospitals and companies better get out their checkbooks.
MGM’s $8 Million Cyberattack Loss
© gorodenkoff / Getty Images
Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.
McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.
His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.
A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.
TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.
McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks