Cyberattack fears leading to insurance frustration for tribal casino operators

Casinos, hotels and other businesses around the world are reportedly finding it harder to obtain reasonably-priced cyber insurance owing to the rising prevalence of online attacks.

According to a Monday report from CDC Gaming Reports, this disturbing message was delivered by Lance Ewing, Enterprise Risk Management and Operations Vice-President for the casino-operating San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, during last week’s virtual Cybersecurity Summit from native American gaming and hospitality organization TribalHub.

Rising risk:

There are over 500 tribal casinos in the United States and the source detailed that such venues have become an increasing target for potentially dangerous hacks from criminals seeking to grab valuable customer data. The National Indian Gaming Commission purportedly detailed that the prevalence of cyberattacks for the whole of 2021 had jumped by more than 1,000% when compared with pre-pandemic 2019 to keep the issue of cyber security squarely in the headlines.

Intensifying inevitability:

Ewing reportedly told attendees that properties are currently facing the question of when they will be hit by hackers rather than if although many insurance providers have dropped their coverage of tribal casinos and hotels altogether. The experienced executive disclosed that numerous carriers have also increased their cyberattack premiums even for those venues who have never suffered a breach.

Ewing reportedly stated…

“If you’re in Las Vegas or a resort area, you’re not an attractive risk for the insurance industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re Marriott, Hilton or Disney, there’s no love in the cyber world for us right now. Every day, someone is trying to get your information. It doesn’t matter if you’re a large or small tribe or entity, they’re knocking on all of our doors.”

Prime precedents:

CDC Gaming Reports went on to highlight the rumored 2019 cyberattack on MGM Resorts International that allegedly led to the information of more than ten million patrons being revealed. It disclosed that this was followed by the surfacing of reports in May that hackers had dumped tens of millions of customer records encompassing name, e-mail address, birthday and telephone number details on Telegram.

Ewing reportedly declared…

“Hackers are getting smarter and they’re looking at the vulnerable for exposure and see the casinos, resorts and hotels as easier targets. Underwriters see this on the front pages and every time something bad happens they keep trying to add zeros to your insurance premiums. The average risk insurance payment is up 82% in one year. As to when this will end and when we will stop seeing these increases are not in sight.”

Coverage constriction:

Those viewing the Cybersecurity Summit were reportedly told by Ewing that providers have furthermore started lowing the amount they are prepared to insure with the $25 million once available in the past now down to a paltry $10 million or even lower $5 million. The expert purportedly divulged that this situation developed many years ago after insurance firms began writing cyber business without doing the necessary underwriting.

Ewing reportedly asserted…

“They didn’t understand the risk, got burned and had to shell out more money, which insurance carriers aren’t used to. They’re used to taking in more in premiums and having a profit.”

Deductible debacle:

Even if casino operators and other entities are willing to boost their deductibles from $250,000 to $500,000, Ewing reportedly noted that this is not enough to make a dent in their premiums. He purportedly disclosed that this would have to be increased to $2 million to pour even more frustration on an industry that is increasingly seeing policies unexpectedly cancelled or denied renewal.

Ewing reportedly pronounced…

“Even if I’m pure as the driven snow and not a huge target, it won’t matter. Certain industries like hotels, casinos, restaurants and retail are considered risks and you may have been with carriers for three, five or seven years and you can’t take it personally. It’s the nature of where we are right now in the industry.”