In this photo illustration, the Ticketmaster website is shown on a computer screen in Miami on November 18, 2022.
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Ticketmaster’s parent company said it is investigating a possible data breach after a group of hackers claimed to have stolen the personal information of 560 million Ticketmaster customers.
Ticketmaster owner Live Nation said in a securities filing that it discovered “unauthorized activity on a third-party cloud database environment containing company data” on May 20.
A week later, the hacker group ShinyHunters claimed to have obtained 1.3 TB of Ticketmaster user data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, order details and credit card information. According to Hack Read, the hackers sold the data on the dark web for $500,000.
As of Friday, Live Nation said there was no evidence the data breach had a “significant impact” on its business operations. The company added that it was working to reduce the risk to users and had notified law enforcement.
“We will also notify regulators and users, as appropriate, of unauthorized access to personal information,” Live Nation said.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.
According to the Department of Justice, since the beginning of 2020, ShinyHunters has sold data stolen from more than 60 companies in the United States and globally.
“Victims include technology companies, international stock trading firms, apparel companies, and nutrition and fitness companies. The stolen data contained millions of customer records,” the department said in January 2023.
The cyberattack comes as Ticketmaster faces legal troubles. On May 23, the Department of Justice and 30 state and territory attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit against Live Nation, accusing it of monopolizing live event ticket prices.
The lawsuit has the potential to reshape the live entertainment industry and the fees and costs associated with live events.
