Hackers are playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Ticketmaster following a data breach that exposed the personal information of over 440,000 Taylor Swift ticket buyers.
Investigators are now looking to find out who is responsible for the attack, which affects a number of musicians, including Taylor Swift.
While the hacker team ShinyHunters has prominently publicized Taylor Swift tickets in their dispute with Ticketmaster, several other musicians who are currently touring have also been affected. Ticket buyers for shows featuring Pearl Jam, Sammy Hagar, Stevie Nicks, and the Steve Miller Band are affected.
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Tours include Usher’s “Past Present Future Tour,” P!nk’s “Summer Carnival,” Aerosmith’s “Peace Out Farewell Tour,” Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s “Love Earth Tour,” Alanis Morissette’s “The Triple Moon Tour,” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Unlimited Love Tour,” and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Bands’ 2024 tour. According to reports, the leak includes many Cirque du Soleil tickets.
Digital Music News has reported on the continuous nature of the data leak, with the ShinyHunters group mocking Ticketmaster’s claim that tickets can be reset. “Pay us $2 million or we will leak the mail and e-ticket barcodes for all of your events,” the group threateningly stated. On Breach Forum, a famous site for black hats to trade skills, the group appears to have posted a DIY step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own printable tickets using exposed information.
The hackers claim to have access to 193 million barcodes, over half of which are for future performances. To back up their claims, the group distributed Taylor Swift tickets to an upcoming three-night event at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN in November. The gang also claims to have demanded a $8 ransom in order to prevent the material from being leaked or sold to the highest bidder.
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Ticketmaster has begun contacting users whose information was compromised in the attack, offering identity theft monitoring. It also says that its SafeTix technology prevents leaked tickets from being used since it generates a new and unique barcode every few seconds. In its May regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Live Nation did not specify how many accounts were affected by the data breach.
According to Live Nation’s full-year report, Ticketmaster sold over 620 million tickets to music shows, festivals, plays, and sporting events in 2023. More than 145 million users attended those events, indicating that the data hack potentially affect millions of Americans. The announcement comes after the United States Justice Department and the Attorneys General of 28 states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“I am deeply alarmed by Ticketmaster’s failure to fully and promptly notify consumers about the May hack,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a statement regarding the ongoing controversy. “There are serious concerns about what information was stolen and how it could be exploited.” I am constantly monitoring the matter and encourage any customers who may have been affected to sign up for Ticketmaster’s free credit monitoring service and keep an eye on their bank accounts for any suspicious behavior.”
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