Live Nation confirms Ticketmaster data breach that could affect 560 million users: What to know

Ticketmaster confirmed in a federal filing Friday that the company was investigating a data breach that may have affected more than 500 million customers.

Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, wrote to a file to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had found “unauthorized activity in a third-party cloud database environment.”

Here’s what you need to know about the breach:

Hacker group ShinyHunters takes responsibility

ShinyHunters, which claimed the breach, is a hacking group believed to have been formed around 2020.

Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, said the organization is a “credible threat actor” but not much is known about the group. The New York Times reported.

Other victims of the group’s threats in the past have included Microsoft and AT&T, among other companies in the U.S. and around the world, federal prosecutors said, according to the Times.

CyberDaily, an Australia-based technology agency, first reported the breach and said hackers are asking for $500,000 for stolen customer information.

Callow told the Times that the group claimed to have information on 560 million Ticketmaster customers, including credit card numbers and ticket sales.

Live Nation confirms breach

News about the breach began circulating earlier this week. At this point, Ticketmaster had not yet publicly acknowledged the data breach.

In Friday’s document, the company said it noticed the unauthorized activity on May 20. Live Nation officials said they are working to mitigate the risk to users and working with authorities.

“As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users regarding unauthorized access to personal information,” the document says.

The company said it does not expect the breach to affect its business operations or finances.

How users can protect themselves

Joseph Steinberg, a cybersecurity expert, said CBS MoneyWatch that there are a lot of records missing and that “sounds really bad”.

Still, he said, looking at the raw data, “there’s probably a lot less than it seems.”

Steinberg noted that “sometimes we are overwhelmed by the numbers, but what matters much more is the quality of the data and what it means.”

Callow told the Times that, for now, it does not appear that users’ passwords have been compromised. He said users should change their Ticketmaster account password anyway.

Steinberg told CBS that Ticketmaster account holders should be careful when clicking on links that offer them concert tickets.

“You have to internalize the fact that you are a target,” he said.

Security expert Dean Drako also told CBS that users should also monitor their bank accounts for unusual behavior and initiate fraud alerts.

Live Nation, Ticketmaster lawsuits

Live Nation’s lawsuit comes shortly after the Department of Justice and 30 state and district attorneys general accused the company, and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, of monopolizing the live industry and harming artists and fans.

The antitrust lawsuit alleges that the company engaged in many forms of “anticompetitive conduct,” such as acquiring competitors and working against locations that work with competitors.

The company also acquired amphitheaters, festivals, other venues, other promoters and small ticket sellers to monopolize the market against its rivals, the lawsuit states.

Efforts to crack down on the company began after Taylor Swift fans filed a class-action lawsuit after there were widespread problems trying to access tickets at a pre-sale event for her Era tour.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story