Iranian hackers infiltrated the servers of the Las Vegas Sands Hotel earlier this year, wiping out more than $40-million in equipment and data according to a report that comes on the heels of a massive Sony hack likely perpetrated by another nation-state.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports hackers wiped out three-fourths of the company’s Vegas-based servers and seized information on employees in the February attack.
The attackers apparently weren’t after the casino’s financials or customer credit card infromation, and company executives immediately suspected the reason and the source.
In October 2013 81-year-old Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson — a strong Israel supporter who owns a more-than 50-percent stake in the Casino — suggested threatening Iran with a nuclear attack unless the country abandoned its uranium enrichment program during a panel at Yeshiva University’s Manhattan campus titled, “Will Jews Exist?”
“You want to be wiped out? Go ahead and take a tough position,” Adelson said.
Investigators received further confirmation of their suspicions via a message left on Sands’ servers in the wake of the attack.
“Encouraging the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, UNDER ANY CONDITION, is a Crime,” the message read. It was signed by the “Anti WMD Team.” The day after the attack, hackers posted a photo of Adelson with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in place of company websites.
Hackers also left a list full of private employee information stolen in the attack including names, titles, Social Security numbers, and e-mail addresses. One message left specifically for Adelson read, “Damn A, Don’t let your tongue cut your throat.”
Given Iran’s overarching control over domestic Internet, investigators concluded it was highly unlikely such an attack could have been executed without the Iranian government’s knowledge.
U.S. national security officials reportedly discussed the attack earlier this year, months ahead of a November meeting between National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, during which Rogers suggested U.S. companies had so far been spared major attacks.
Rogers, who also heads U.S. Cyber Command, warned that would likely change in the next decade, when Rogers predicts a “catastrophic cyberattack” will likely target critical U.S. infrastructure. (RELATED: NSA Chief: U.S. Will Suffer ‘Catastrophic Cyberattack’ In The Next 10 Years)
The recent round of attacks against Sony, JPMorgan, Home Depot and government entities including the U.S. Post Office, weather network, State Department and White House suggest those attacks are already on the rise. (RELATED: New Evidence Suggests North Korea Hacked Sony Over Seth Rogen Comedy About Killing Kim Jong-un)