Vegas Mob Museum explores the rise of organized cybercrime

The newest exhibit at Las Vegas’s Mob Museum may not contain flashy items like Bugsy Siegel’s sunglasses or the bloody wall from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, but it’s still a riveting look at modern organized crime.

“Digital Underground,” which opened this week, highlights the scourge of cybercrime. Spanning early hackers of the 1970s to today’s sophisticated ransomware organizations that steal over $150 million every day, the exhibit allows the public to visualize faceless crimes. The highlight of “Digital Underground” is a live cyberthreat map displaying attacks happening in real-time. A large wall mural and panel describe how these criminal enterprises operate and continue to proliferate around the world, with corporations and government bodies facing about 1,900 cyberattacks a week.

“Cybercrime has become one of the most pressing, pervasive and profitable threats of our time,” Geoff Schumacher, The Mob Museum’s Vice President of Exhibits and Programs, said in a statement. “‘Digital Underworld’ provides important historical context, compelling artifacts and a live look at how these crimes are carried out today, making it clear that organized crime is no longer limited to the streets, it thrives in the digital world.”

In 2023, a huge cyberattack crippled MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment, both of which operate the largest casino resorts in Las Vegas. But before hackers locked people out of hotel rooms and demanded multi-million-dollar ransoms, they were involved in phone scams 40 years ago, as “Digital Underground” highlights.

The exhibit also features a floppy disk containing an early computer virus, a Cap’n Crunch cereal toy whistle used to trick pay phones into providing free long-distance calls, and a book by Joseph Popp, creator of the first ransomware in 1989. Find more details on the exhibit website.