Ticketmaster’s parent company confirmed that on May 20 a digital breach happened in their systems, with a hacking group some days later allegedly posting Ticketmaster customers’ data for sale—including names and credit card details for possibly 500 million customers.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation said that on May 20, it identified “unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment” that contained Ticketmaster data.
According to the filing, on May 27, criminals allegedly offered Ticketmaster customers’ data for sale in the dark web.
Live Nation said they contacted forensic investigators to understand what happened, and they have been trying to mitigate the risk to customers and the company, and cooperating with law enforcement.
“As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorized access to personal information,” the filing said, regarding notifying the SEC.
According to multiple reports, a cybercrime group called ShinyHunters posted a message in the dark web saying that they can sell the Ticketmaster data they stole, which include details of 560 million customers, such as name, address, email, and phone number, as well as ticket sales, event information, order details, credit card name, its last four digits, and its expiration date.
The price for selling those was $500,000.
Live Nation did not mention ShinyHunters in its filing.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ShinyHunters, who claimed the attack, is a hacker group believed to be a dangerous threat actor formed in 2020. Other victims of the group were Microsoft and AT&T, among other U.S. companies.
Ticketmaster customers have been advised to change their Ticketmaster passwords and monitor their bank accounts.
The breach comes as the concert promoter has been battling regulatory scrutiny over antitrust concerns. Live Nation was hit last week with the first in a likely a wave of consumer antitrust lawsuits after the U.S. government and states sued to break up the firm, arguing that along with its Ticketmaster unit, the company was illegally inflating concert ticket prices.
The Justice Department accused Live Nation of using long-term contracts to keep venues from choosing rival ticketers, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers and threatening venues that they could lose money and fans if they don’t choose Ticketmaster.
Taylor Swift fans’ struggles with Ticketmaster in 2022 exposed weaknesses in the U.S. ticketing system and drew widespread attention.
State attorneys general—30 of whom had joined the Justice Department’s lawsuit—started investigating Ticketmaster. The widespread social media outcry even led to a Senate hearing.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which have long clashed with artists and fans, have always denied they act in a monopolistic manner. They say they aren’t to blame for high ticket prices.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.