KUALA LUMPUR – Ticketmaster is investigating a data breach supposedly involving the information of 560 million customers days after a hacking group known as ShinyHunters posted evidence on the dark web.
The hacking group on May 27 is demanding a US$500,000 (RM2,349,800) in ransom, calling it a “one-time sale”.
Ticketmaster, which is based in California, runs one of the largest online ticket sales platforms in the world.
In filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, said it “identified unauthorised activity within a third-party cloud database environment” on May 20, a week before the reveal by ShinyHunters.
“We are working to mitigate risk to our users and the company and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement.
“The incident has not had, and we do not believe it is reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our overall business operations or on our financial condition or results of operations.”
On May 30, the Australian government disclosed that it was probing into the same claims.
The US Justice Department last week filed an antitrust suit in an effort to address issues of monopoly and violation of consumer rights by Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster subsidiary in the live music industry.
This came after widespread criticism of Ticketmaster’s handling of the pre-sale of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in November 2022.
Ticketmaster’s pricing practices, high fees and lack of alternatives, have long been an issue in the US. It also owns TicketWeb, a ticketing website aimed at independent venues.
It was also repeatedly reported in the US media that Ticketmaster secretly partners with scalpers to drive up prices.
In June 2018, Ticketmaster identified a hack involving 40,000 UK customers who bought tickets between February and June of the same year. – June 1, 2024