Canadian casino says it was hacked, data was stolen

Dear Viewers,

TORONTO A major Canadian casino has been hit by a cyber attack in which sensitive customer, employee and vendor data was stolen, its management said on Thursday, warning there is a risk the information will be published.

The Casino Rama Resort in Ontario said the hacker claimed to have stolen financial reports, patron credit inquiries, collection and debt information, payroll and other data in an intrusion it first became aware of on Friday.

It said the hacker claims the employee data included social insurance numbers and dated back to 2004, with some other stolen data dating back to 2007.

The casino sits on the Rama First Nation about two-hours drive north of Toronto and has about 3 million visitors a year. Its day-to-day operations are run by CHC Casinos Canada Limited, an indirect subsidiary of Penn National Gaming Inc, under license from the province's gaming operator.

Penn National did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The breach is at least the second time this year that a casino that sits on aboriginal land has fallen victim to a hack, following a breach at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Alberta in March.

Casino Rama has more 2,500 slot machines, more than 110 gaming tables, 8 restaurants and a 5,000 seat entertainment venue and an attached 300-room hotel.

The casino had gross gaming revenue of C$348.3 million ($259.3 million) in the fiscal year to end-March 2015, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation spokesman Tony Bitonti said. Casino resorts in Ontario brought in a total of C$1.16 billion in revenue in that period, he said.

Casino Rama said there was no evidence that the hacker was still inside its computer systems, and that it was working with provincial and federal police and private cyber security experts to investigate the breach. Thanks.

UPDATE 2-Bank of Canada's Poloz says satisfied with messaging

Dear Viewers,

VANCOUVER Nov 1 Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said on Tuesday he was satisfied with the way the central bank communicated its last policy decision, despite the volatile reaction of markets, because it conveyed that the downside risks it warned about had solidified.

Poloz acknowledged the rocky reaction to the bank's Oct. 19 rate decision and subsequent news conference, during which Poloz surprised markets with the news that policymakers had actively considered cutting rates but ultimately held them steady.

"I'm satisfied that in a relatively tricky situation with a lot of moving parts that both in our press release and in the subsequent remarks we were able to offer clarity on how we think about those things," Poloz told reporters following a speech in Vancouver.

"Both the press release and the remarks indicated clearly that the risks that we highlighted in September had in fact crystallized... In the end, the market takes the information and runs with it and it is what it is."

The Canadian dollar initially firmed after the Oct. 19 rate decision. But Poloz's subsequent revelation that the central bank had "actively discussed" adding stimulus then sent the currency tumbling, drawing criticism from some market players.

Scott Smith, senior market analyst at Cambridge Global Payments, said on Tuesday that Poloz has little room to object to how markets respond to his communication.

"He can't be viewed by market participants as being reactionary or necessarily caught off guard in terms of how the market responds to his actions or his thoughts," Smith said.

In his speech to a Vancouver business group, Poloz said the bank had seriously considered raising its inflation target to give it more flexibility to cut rates, but decided unconventional measures provide more room to maneuver than previously believed.

Arguing in favor of the renewal of the inflation target at the midpoint of a 1-to-3 percent range, Poloz said pushing inflation up to 3 percent "might be quite difficult to do, and might require some significant economic fluctuations, given how well inflation expectations appear to be anchored at 2 percent."

He also reiterated that the government is better suited to address threats like a hot housing market or high household debt than the "very blunt tool" of moving interest rates. Thanks.