Rivers Casino Hit with Class Action in Illinois Over Data Breach Announced in November 2023

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Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois, faces a proposed class action over a cyberattack announced in November 2023 that compromised the personal information of tens of thousands of individuals.

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The 52-page lawsuit says defendant Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, LLC—which does business as Rivers Casino—has reported that on August 12, 2023, an unauthorized third party gained access to certain files stored in its network that contained private data belonging to employees, customers and online sportsbook users.

According to the suit, the information exposed in the cyberattack included at least individuals’ full names, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, government ID numbers, financial account details, tax identification numbers, passport numbers and Social Security numbers.

The case contends that the Illinois casino failed to maintain reasonable cybersecurity standards to protect the information in its care, which was allegedly stored in a “reckless manner,” particularly “vulnerable to cyberattacks of this type.” As the complaint tells it, the sensitive data was purportedly housed unencrypted in the defendant’s network. “[H]ad proper encryption been implemented, the criminals would have exfiltrated only unintelligible data,” the filing explains.

In addition, the lawsuit charges that Rivers Casino would have detected the unauthorized access sooner if it had properly monitored its computer systems.

The suit further argues that the casino’s notice email to victims was untimely and lacked critical details about the data breach. For example, the notice failed to explain how cybercriminals gained access to the network and what measures are being taken to safeguard stored information in the future, the case shares.

In light of the prevalence of cyberattacks in recent years, Rivers Casino should have been aware of the threat and taken appropriate steps to secure the highly confidential data entrusted to it, the complaint claims.

As a result of the defendant’s alleged negligence, victims like the plaintiff—a Chicago resident and Rivers Casino customer—are now at greater risk of identity theft, fraud and other illegal schemes, the filing contests.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose personal information was maintained on Rivers Casino’s computer systems that were compromised in the data breach, including those who were sent notice emails from the defendant.

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