Casinos have always been high-stakes environments not just on the gaming floor, but in the back office, surveillance rooms, and increasingly, the digital infrastructure that powers them. Millions of dollars flow through physical and digital channels each and every day making casinos key and prime targets for cybercriminals, but the game has definitely changed. They’re no longer just having to deal with traditional malware or phishing schemes. The next wave of cyber threats is powered by artificial intelligence. Casinos that fail to evolve their security models are gambling with more than just their money – they’re risking trust, reputation, and compliance.
AI-powered phishing is the new face of social engineering. Casino organizations – especially those that have hotels, resorts, restaurants and entertainment venues – are a rich ground for social engineering to happen. High turnover, wide access to guest systems, and multiple vendor touchpoints make them more vulnerable. And today, attackers aren’t just sending poorly worded phishing emails that one can catch. They’re using AI to craft personalized, convincing, and even real-time attacks.
Imagine a scenario where a casino CFO receives a voicemail from what sounds like the CEO urgently requesting a wire transfer. It’s the CEO’s voice. The tone, urgency, and context all check out. But it’s not actually real. It’s a deepfake audio clip, generated from publicly available recordings and trained in minutes using AI. Picture an HR director receiving a video from a “candidate” applying for a role in surveillance, complete with facial movements and speech except the ID is stolen and the video is fake. These scenarios aren’t futuristic; they are happening now, and casino systems built for yesterday’s threats won’t be able to stop them.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY MELISSA AARSKAUG IN THE FALL 2025 EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.