A hacking group has alleged that it has stolen the personal data of 560 million Ticketmaster users in what could represent one of the largest-ever known hacking operations in history.
The organisation, known as ShinyHunters, says it has 1.3 terabytes worth of data in its possession, which has been stolen from the ticketing giant. The data includes customer information such as names, addresses and email addresses, and, more significantly, credit card information, which is said to include expiration dates and parts of credit card numbers.
The hacking group has placed a $500,000 ransom on the data. If Ticketmaster doesn’t pay up, ShinyHunters says it will sell on the customer information to other parties via BreachForums, the dark web platform that it set up in 2022.
Ticketmaster has not yet commented on the alleged data breach.
Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, is already currently in hot water, due to legal action launched against it by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The US Government has alleged that the company is engaged in “unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States”. Investigations by the DOJ into Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s practices have been ongoing since 2018.
Last year, Ticketmaster announced that it would eliminate hidden handling and processing fees on tickets in a new policy, following pressure by the US Government.
