Live Nation Confirms Ticketmaster Hack

Hacker stealing passwords and identity, computer crime — Illustration by Boonchai Wedmakawand/Getty Images

Live Nation confirmed reports Friday that a Ticketmaster database was hacked, potentially exposing the personal data of hundreds of millions of customers.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Live Nation said it “identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment” containing primarily Ticketmaster-connected data.

“On May 27, 2024, a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web. We are working to mitigate risk to our users and
the Company, and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement. As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorized access to personal information,” the statement continued.

On Thursday, reports emerged that a group of hackers claimed it accessed personal information of more than 560 million Ticketmaster customers and was offering it for sale for $500,000 in a dark web forum.

The ShinyHunters hacking consortium said in an online forum that the stolen data includes the names, addresses and phone numbers of Ticketmaster customers. In addition, it includes order history and partial payment details, including credit card expiration dates and the last four digits of card numbers.

The Australian government acknowledged “a cyber incident impacting Ticketmaster” and confirmed its own investigation.

“The National Office of Cyber Security is engaging with Ticketmaster to understand the incident,” the Australia Home Affairs Department said in a statement May 30.

The United States Embassy in Canberra said the FBI offered assistance to its Australian counterparts.

ShinyHunters came to prominence in 2020 and 2021 with breaches of, among others, AT&T Wireless, PlutoTV, Microsoft and a number of educational apps and game apps targeted at children.

In January, French programmer Sébastien Raoult, who has ties to the group, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $5 million by a federal court in Washington state.