Ticketmaster has informed millions of customers about a data breach that might be one of the largest in North American history.
Law firms that have filed class-action lawsuits against Ticketmaster LLC and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment Inc. claim that as many as 500 million customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico could be impacted.
According to the lawsuits, the two companies failed to adequately protect their data systems from unauthorized intrusions, compromising encrypted credit card information and date of birth, among other personal and financial data.
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Ticketmaster’s website reassures customers that they can still use their services as usual without any issues.
Live Nation revealed in a regulatory filing that they were made aware of a criminal threat actor attempting to sell Ticketmaster data on the dark web.
The data breach, allegedly claimed by a hacking group named ShinyHunters, occurred between April 2 and May 18 and involved a cloud database hosted by a third-party data service provider.
Ticketmaster has not detected any further unauthorized activity in the cloud database during their investigation.
The company is cooperating with law enforcement agencies and technology companies to investigate the breach and is providing free access to credit reporting agencies and fraud assistance for affected customers.
What consumers can do
Lisa Plaggemier, from the National Cybersecurity Alliance, advises consumers to update their passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and monitor financial statements and credit reports regularly to prevent and detect breaches.
She also suggests freezing credit with credit bureaus to enhance security measures in case of a data breach.
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