Gateway Casinos & Entertainment has started a “phased” re-opening of its 14 Ontario properties after a cyberattack shut down operations for almost two weeks.
At noon Saturday, the company’s Innisfil property reopened. Slots and table games are now available for customers, along with the Getaway Restaurant. Ticket holders at Casino Rama Resort near Orillia were advised that concerts will proceed as planned.
Gateway doesn’t have an exact reopening schedule for the remaining 13 Ontario properties, but they will open “incrementally,” Rob Mitchell, Gateway’s director of communications and public affairs for Eastern Canada, told CDC Gaming. “We hope to roll all of them out over the next week,” he said.
Mitchell said “third-party experts” worked on correcting what came out of the ransomware attack, adding that there has been no evidence as of today that any employee, vendor, or client personal information was compromised. Gateway has never gone through anything like this before.
“Of course, we’re looking at all our systems, looking at what we can learn from this, but I can’t get into any detail,” he said. “I’m very proud of our response. We erred very definitely on the side of caution. Immediately when this issue was detected, we shut down. We were collaborating with the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) and OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation) and took their past experience and guidance [into account], to make sure nothing was compromised, and that was the right approach. Once we knew we had a ransomware attack, we knew we had to act swiftly and declaratively and be as transparent as we could under the circumstances.”
Mitchell also referenced what the company learned during the rapid COVID shutdowns and other circumstances where they started up again on short notice, to help them through this situation.
Mitchell said the Innisfil casino was bustling on Saturday afternoon after it reopened, despite the inclement weather.
“The place is quite busy,” he said. “There is a great atmosphere on the floor. people are happy to be back, enjoying themselves, in good spirits.”
Gateway Casinos & Entertainent is one of the largest gaming and entertainment companies in Canada, with 28 gaming properties in British Columbia and Ontario and two additional properties in Edmonton, Alberta. The company employs around 7,000 people and has 339 table games (including 30 poker), 14,031 slotS, 94 food and beverage outlets, and 561 hotel rooms.
Ontario casinos affected were Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Wasaga Beach, Innisfil, Casino Rama near Orillia, Clinton, Chatham, Hanover, Point Edward, Sarnia, Woodstock, and London.
