Ticketmaster confirms hack which could affect 560 million users
The ShinyHunters group claimed responsibility for stealing data from Tickmaster users across the globe
Ticketmaster owner Live Nation confirmed that “unauthorised activity” took place on its database after a group of hackers claimed they had stolen the personal details of 560 million customers.
Previously, the ShinyHunters group claimed responsibility for stealing data from Ticketmaster users across the globe, including their names, addresses, phone numbers and partial credit card details such as cardholder names, the last four digits of the cards and expiration dates.
Reports on Thursday suggested that the group had demanded a $500,000 (£400,000) ransom payment to prevent the data from being sold to third parties.
Live Nation has now appeared to confirm this in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, in which it said that on 27 May “a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web,” adding that it was investigating the data breach.
In its filing, Live Nation said it was working to “mitigate risk” to customers and that it was taking steps to notify users about the unauthorised access to their personal data.
Live Nation has not confirmed the number of customers affected.
The Australian government said it is working with Ticketmaster to address the situation while the FBI has also offered to assist, according to a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Canberra who spoke to Agence France-Presse.
A spokesperson for the FBI told the BBC that it “has no comment on this matter.”
In its filing, Live Nation said: “As of the date of this filing, the incident has not had, and we do not believe it is reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our overall business operations or on our financial condition or results of operations.
“We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing.”
A spokesperson for the Australia Home Affairs Department said in a statement to CBS News: “The Australian Government is aware of a cyber incident impacting Ticketmaster.
“The National Office of Cyber Security is engaging with Ticketmaster to understand the incident.”
Ticketmaster, which is one of the largest online ticket sales platform in the world, has not yet confirmed whether it fell victim to a data breach.
If the breach is confirmed, it could be the largest ever in terms of numbers and the extent of the data stolen.
While cyber security experts are warning that the claims may be false, authorities in Australia, which is where the breach was first reported, have confirmed they are investigating the potential hack.
An advert posted on the newly relaunched hacking forum BreachForums includes some sample data allegedly obtained in the breach.
ShinyHunters has been linked to a series of high-profile data breaches which resulted in millions of dollars in losses to the companies that were targeted.
The group sold a genuine database of information stolen from 70 million customers of the US telecoms firm AT&T in 2021.
In September 2023, the group also breached the data of 200,000 Pizza Hut customers in Australia.
The latest alleged breach coincides with the relaunch of BreachForums, a site on the dark web where hackers buy and sell stolen material along with information that enables breaches to be carried out.
The FBI clamped down on the forum in March 2023 and arrested its administrator Conor Brian Fitzpatrick.
While the FBI operation led to the forum’s closure, tech media reports suggest that the dark web site has now reappeared.
Large stolen databases are often first shared on the forums, but posts can also include false claims about alleged breaches.
Security researcher Kevin Beaumont told the BBC: “If Ticketmaster has had a breach of this scale it is important they inform customers but it is important to also consider that sometimes criminal hackers make false or inflated claims about data breaches – so people should not be overly concerned until a breach is confirmed.”
This is not the first time Ticketmaster has been drawn into cyber security issues.
In 2020, the company admitted it hacked into one of its competitors and agreed to pay a $10m fine.
In November, Ticketmaster was allegedly targeted by a cyber attack which led to problems selling tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.
i has sent a further request for comment to Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
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