THUNDEr BAY – NEWS – By later this week Gateway Casinos, including the Thunder Bay Casino will be re-opening.
Gateway Casinos ceased its operations last Sunday around 1 pm local CDT due to an IT outage, causing temporary closures. Later, it was discovered that the Canadian gaming giant had suffered a ransomware attack launched by an online criminal group that disrupted their operations.
Gateway announced that it is now nearing a resolution, and the casinos will begin reopening later this week. Gateway’s communications and public affairs director, Rob Mitchell, says that presently, IT systems are being tested to ensure a safe reopening of their Ontario operations. The company has not revealed whether it paid any ransom.
The ransomware attack disrupted the operations of Gateway casinos in several locations, including Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, North Bay, Innisfil, Clinton, London, Sarnia, and Woodstock. The incident also affected other casinos, including Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach, Casino Rama Resort, Cascades Casino Chatham, Playtime Casino Hanover, and Starlight Casino Point Edward.
The impact of the closure of 14 casinos for eight days will cost the casino operator tens of millions of dollars in lost gaming revenue. The closures are also a significant loss for the Ontario government, which owns the physical properties and collects 20% of the gaming income from their operations.
“This is an important time for us and there has been a positive feeling in the industry about how casinos are performing,” said Paul Burns, who heads the Canadian Gaming Association. “It will be back, and we believe customers will come back again. They came back after the pandemic. They will again. We’re resilient.”
