Playtime Casino in Wasaga Beach will reopen tonight (May 1) at 8 p.m. after being closed for two weeks following a ransomware attack that shuttered all of the Gateway Casinos in Ontario.
The company announced this afternoon its Wasaga Beach casino was next on the list for reopening, following Innisfil and London casinos which have already re-opened.
The Wasaga Beach Playtime Casino will be open at 8 p.m. tonight (May 1) and resume its regular hours. The update from Gateway notes the company is "hopeful" that Match Eatery and Public House will reopen on May 2 with a limited menu.
On April 16, the 14 Ontario gambling facilities operated by Gateway Casinos abruptly closed their doors due to what was termed, at the time, as a “system-wide malfunction.”
The company has since admitted they have been a victim of a ransomware attack. That means a hacker or hackers found a way to lock up the company’s IT system and is holding the company ransom until an unspecified amount of money is paid to them.
“While we have no evidence thus far that personal information of our customers or employees has been impacted, we have experienced a ransomware attack on our IT systems,” the company revealed in a media release.
“Unfortunately, cyber criminals often attempt to compromise personal information. We are continuing to work with third-party experts on a 24/7 basis to determine if there has been any impact on personal information in this case.
“We want to reiterate that we have notified the relevant privacy officials, law enforcement, and government regulators about the cyber incident,” noted the release.
On April 29, Gateway announced a plan to start re-opening its Ontario operations with a phased approach. Innisfil was the first to reopen, followed by London and now Wasaga.
— With files from Dave Dawson
