River Cree casino hacked, customer information compromised

The River Cree casino says it was the victim of a "cyberattack" earlier this week that resulted in the theft of customer and employee information.

The casino, on the Enoch Cree First Nation just west of Edmonton, said it discovered the attack on Monday and immediately alerted the RCMP, the Alberta Gaming and Liquour Commission, the office of the Alberta privacy commissioner and a top cyber-security company.

"We knew our system was hacked, because over the weekend we experienced a lot of trouble using our system, and our systems going down," said Vik Mahajan, general manager and chief operating officer of the casino.

"It seems like a pretty sophisticated attack."

Many such attacks are conducted by hackers from outside the country, he said.

Mahajan said the casino has no idea yet how many people may have lost personal information.

River Cree president Robert Morin said in a statement the casino is in the process of contacting people whose information may have been compromised, and will set up a hotline to offer recommended steps they can take to protect themselves.

Patrons with questions about the incident are encouraged to call a hotline set up by the casino. The hotline at 780-930-2596 will start accepting calls at 11:00 a.m. on Friday.