Ticketmaster Customers Warned of Data Breach After Hack
Ticketmaster customers in North America have been urged to take action after the company was hacked in May, with personal details of 560 million customers worldwide stolen by cyber criminals.
Emails were sent overnight to Canadian customers, advising them to be vigilant and protect against identity theft and fraud. Similar emails have reportedly been sent to victims in the US and Mexico.
The company has not commented on the notification process, but one email seen by the BBC stated that ongoing police investigations delayed the warning to customers.
Hackers stole names, basic contact details, and encrypted credit card information, prompting Ticketmaster to advise customers to monitor their accounts for suspicious activity. The company is offering identity monitoring services to Canadian customers for one year.
The group responsible for the hack, known as ShinyHunters, offered the stolen data for sale on a hacking forum for $500,000. The hackers obtained login details from Ticketmaster by targeting Snowflake, the company used for cloud storage, and also targeted over 160 other Snowflake clients.
Banking group Santander was among those affected by the wider hack, with 30 million customers in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay impacted. Cyber security firm Mandiant, which investigated the attacks, confirmed that Snowflake itself was not breached.
Ticketmaster’s owner Live Nation acknowledged the hack in a notice to shareholders but stated it would have no material impact on its business. The company did not respond to requests for comment from journalists before or after the filing.
