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ALPHV/BlackCat claimed that it accessed MGM Resorts’ Okta Agent servers and used that access to obtain passwords. That account was reported by cybersecurity outlets, but MGM did not publicly confirm the specific Okta Agent allegation. Okta confirmed a social-engineering component in the MGM attack and said it was helping MGM respond; it also said its own systems had not been compromised in that incident.

What did ALPHV/BlackCat claim about MGM and Okta?

On September 15, 2023, Dark Reading reported that the ransomware group ALPHV/BlackCat said it had accessed MGM’s Okta platform, specifically the Okta Agent, and obtained passwords. Cybersecurity Dive also attributed the claim to ALPHV and reported that the group said it had super-administrator privileges in MGM’s Azure tenant. Those are the attackers’ assertions, not independently confirmed details of MGM’s breach. Dark Reading’s report and Cybersecurity Dive’s report document the attribution.

Okta Chief Security Officer David Bradbury confirmed that social engineering was part of the attack. He characterized the human element as simple and the subsequent activity as complex: “The human part was simple, but the subsequent part of the attack was complex.” Bradbury also described the attackers’ creation of their own identity provider and user database as use of legitimate Okta functionality, rather than an Okta software flaw. This confirms a social-engineering component, not every technical detail in ALPHV’s account.

What MGM confirmed about the breach

Timeline and operational disruption

MGM disclosed a cybersecurity issue affecting certain systems on September 11, 2023. In an October 5 update, the company said that on or around September 29 it determined an unauthorized third party had obtained some customers’ personal information on September 11. MGM’s October 5 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said domestic operations had returned to normal and virtually all guest-facing systems had been restored. MGM’s October 5 statement and SEC filing describe the company’s disclosures.

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Customer information MGM said was affected

MGM said the information involved varied by person. It listed names, phone numbers, email and postal addresses, gender, dates of birth, and driver’s-license numbers. For a limited number of customers, Social Security numbers and/or passport numbers were also affected. MGM said some affected customers had transacted with the company before March 2019.

The company said it did not believe customer passwords, bank-account numbers, or payment-card information were affected. MGM said it notified relevant customers and arranged no-cost credit monitoring and identity-protection services for them. It also said there was no evidence at the time of the filing that the obtained information had been used for identity theft or account fraud. That is MGM’s statement about the evidence then available, not a guarantee about future misuse.

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Reported financial impact

MGM estimated an approximately $100 million negative impact to Adjusted Property EBITDAR for its Las Vegas Strip Resorts and Regional Operations from the September disruption. Separately, it reported less than $10 million in one-time third-quarter expenses for technology consulting, legal fees, and other third-party advisers. These are distinct company-reported measures; the EBITDAR estimate is not a final total-cost figure for the incident.

Was Okta itself breached in the MGM attack?

Okta told Cybersecurity Dive that MGM had suffered a cyberattack and that Okta was supporting mitigation. Okta said its own systems had not been compromised in the MGM event and that its service remained operational. Its statement described Okta’s position at that time; it does not establish the full technical sequence inside MGM’s environment.

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Do not confuse MGM’s attack with Okta’s support-system incident

Okta experienced a separate support-system incident in 2023. In its November root-cause account, Okta said an attacker accessed files associated with 134 Okta customers—less than 1% of its customers—between September 28 and October 17. Some of the files were HTTP Archive (HAR) files containing session tokens. Those details concern Okta’s support system, not the MGM attack, and do not show that the support-system incident caused MGM’s breach. Okta later said an independent Stroz Friedberg investigation found no evidence of further malicious activity beyond its prior findings. See Okta’s root-cause analysis and its incident-closure statement.

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What the public record establishes—and what it does not

  • Established as an attacker claim: ALPHV/BlackCat said it accessed MGM’s Okta Agent and obtained passwords; it also claimed Azure super-administrator privileges.
  • Confirmed by Okta’s account: Social engineering was a component of the MGM attack, and Okta said it supported MGM while its own systems remained uncompromised in that event.
  • Disclosed by MGM: Certain customer personal information was obtained, and the company described both operational recovery and estimated financial impacts.
  • Not established in the cited public accounts: The complete technical attack chain, including independent confirmation of ALPHV’s specific Okta Agent description.

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