Data of 560 Million Ticketmaster Customers Allegedly Stolen
Ticketmaster just suffered a massive data breach – according to the hackers behind the attack. According to HackRead , hacker group ShinyHunters claims to have hacked Ticketmaster, stealing 1.3 TB of data from 560 million users. The hacking group posted the data on Breach Forums (a site owned by ShinyHunters), offering all of their loot for $500,000 to a buyer willing to pay.
The data set reported includes personal information such as first and last names, home addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, last four digits of credit and debit cards, card expiration dates, and customer fraud data. However, it also includes Ticketmaster account information such as ticket sales, event information, and orders.
ShinyHunters says it has contacted Ticketmaster about the hack, but the company has not yet commented on the situation.
What you need to know about the lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation
The Ticketmaster hack comes just days after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation , accusing parent company Live Nation Entertainment of monopolistic practices and behavior. Live Nation Entertainment emerged from the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2010, and the Justice Department has since alleged that the company blocked other ticketing companies’ locations through anti-competitive practices.
The DOJ believes Live Nation Entertainment’s stronghold in the events industry has led to both inflated ticket prices and a degraded experience for consumers. For example, Ticketmaster was unable to meet demand for ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour back in 2022, leading some to question whether increased competition might have spurred an improved customer experience even with historical demand.
This legal battle will likely continue for some time, but it is an interesting backdrop to allegations of wrongdoing. If ShinyHunters did indeed hack Ticketmaster and steal the data of over 500 million users, that’s a bad look at bad times for the company. Many companies are the target of data breaches these days, but when the government says that you are engaged in monopolistic activities and you are losing the data of more than half a billion users, it does not show you in the best light.
What should Ticketmaster users do now?
Unfortunately, there isn’t much to do at this point, as Ticketmaster has yet to publicly comment on the breach. We don’t even know if this happened, so no official steps have been taken yet.
However, there are some things you can do to protect yourself overall. First, now might be a good time to change your Ticketmaster password. It’s unclear if this was part of a hack, but resetting your password is a good way to keep attackers out of your account.
You can also start using a credit monitoring service, such as Equifax or Experian , to make sure you’re not a victim of fraud. If ShinyHunters did steal this information, it could allow other attackers to steal your identity. These services can alert you to any fraudulent behavior and tell you how to respond to it.