Live Nation confirms Ticketmaster hack that may affect millions of users

A federal filing confirmed Ticketmaster fell victim to a cyberattack that may have breached the data of millions of users, days after multiple reports said there was an investigation.

Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, confirmed the hack in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It “identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing company data” on May 20.

Live Nation said it subsequently launched an investigation to learn what happened. On May 27, a “criminal threat actor” had offered to sell the data it allegedly stole from Ticketmaster on the dark web, according to the federal filing.

The New York Times and other outlets said a hacking group known as the ShinyHunters is claiming to be responsible for stealing the information, which reportedly includes users’ credit card information.

“We are working to mitigate risk to our users and [Ticketmaster], and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement,” said Live Nation. “As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorized access to personal information.”

As of Monday, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have yet to post information regarding the hack on their websites for their users. Neither company has responded to Scripps News’ request for comment.

Live Nation said in the filing that the incident had not affected its business operations or finances.

“We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing,” the company said.

It’s unclear exactly when the hack took place, but Live Nation said it noted the “unauthorized activity” just days before the U.S. Justice Department sued the companies, alleging they have monopolized the music and live entertainment industry.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

In response to the lawsuit, Live Nation said that the DOJ will “lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment.”