Gaming facilities at Wrest Point and Country Club casinos were shut down after a ‘cyber incident’
The cause of a cyber incident that shut down Federal Group’s pokies operations last week has now been confirmed by the firm’s executive. LATEST >>
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A cyber incident that shut down Federal Group’s pokies operations last week has been confirmed as a ransomware attack.
Federal Group executive general manager Daniel Hanna confirmed the incident, that happened on April 3, involved ransomware.
“As a result of hard work by our team and external experts, including over the Easter long weekend, the immediate incident itself has been contained,” Dr Hanna said.
“The Australian Cyber Security Centre was notified and is co-ordinating relevant law enforcement agencies and continued forensic analysis.”
He said Federal Group had at all times complied with legal and regulatory requirements over the incident.
“The incident is being actively investigated by Federal Group and external experts we have retained, with the co-operation and involvement of relevant authorities who are assisting, and as such we cannot comment further at this stage,” Dr Hanna said.
“Our team has done an excellent job to ensure we have been able to continue serving customers and guests.
“Our company is one of many Australian businesses that have been impacted by increasingly sophisticated and complex incidents of this nature.”
INITIAL, APRIL 4:
THE Federal Group shut down its pokies operations after a “cyber incident” hit its businesses.
Federal Group executive general manager Daniel Hanna said the incident occurred about 2am on Saturday.
“We are taking this matter extremely seriously and have shut down some of our services as a precautionary measure,” he said.
“We are doing this to ensure that the integrity of our systems and data is maintained at all times.
“As a result, electronic gaming machines at Wrest Point and Country Club are not currently operating.”
Dr Hanna said table gaming had been restored after a brief shut down on Saturday night and some check-in facilities at the hotels were also affected.
“We are working with cyber experts and will restore all functions as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Our team has done an excellent job to manage disruptions and continue to serve guests.”
Pokies out of action due to “system error”
Saturday April 3, .30pm
GUESTS at Hobart’s Wrest Point Casino have been left unable to play poker machines and other games on Saturday night due to a system issue.
The casino announced on its Facebook page that the issue had resulted in gaming machines and table games being out of action.
Federal Group, which runs the venue, said the problem is also affecting facilities at Launceston’s Country Club casino.
Federal Group said it was working on the issue.
“A system issue has impacted a number of facilities across the business,’’ Federal Group’s executive general manager Daniel Hanna said.
“This includes gaming facilities at Wrest Point and Country Club.
“We are working to resolve the matter and in the meantime our team is continuing to provide excellent service to guests.”
Restaurants, bars and cafes at the venues are still in operation.
Tasmania’s only two casinos have a combined 1185 poker machines.
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