Washington's Swinomish Casino and Lodge temporarily shuts down due to cybersecurity attack

The Swinomish Casino and Lodge in Anacortes, Washington has announced that it will remain closed until further notice, owing to a cybersecurity incident. 

On Wednesday, the casino posted the following message on its website:

“We are investigating a cybersecurity incident that has affected our operations.
The casinos and restaurants on our property are all temporarily closed. We will resume our loyalty and rewards program when the casino reopens.

While the lodge and RV park are open, we are only able to honor existing reservations at this time.

Lodge guests impacted by this incident will also receive a refund as appropriate.
We do not yet have an estimate on when our facilities will reopen. We are working as quickly as possible to restore operations and will provide updates on this website and on our Facebook page as our systems come back online.

In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement and leading cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and determine the scope of the issue. If we learn data was impacted by this incident, we will contact affected individuals as soon as possible.”

The casino, however, did not give a heads-up to people with reservations at the lodge and has been closed since Friday, reports KIRO 7. The casino opened in 1994 and is owned and operated by the Swinomish tribal community.

An anonymous worker told the cited source that they were working to fix the casino’s internet connectivity. “The gaming floor is closed. Food and beverage outlets are closed,” he said. “They haven’t given us any kind of update via email like they usually do.”

Greg Sullivan, a former casino employee, also spoke to KIRO 7 and said: “The casino industry does not close on a Friday or a Saturday night, especially on the first Friday or Saturday of the month. The only time I remember the casino ever emptying was when someone mistakenly pulled the fire alarm.”

Sullivan also expressed his concern about the staff who rely on tips to cover their monthly bills. “This impact is substantial on the workers, particularly the ones that are not salaried employees,” he stated. “The public absolutely deserves the truth. You have a large community there that is impacted by them not being open.”

As per reports, there is no word on when the casino will reopen. The last time the property was closed this long was in March 2020 due to COVID-19 safety measures.