Hacker ShinyHunters threatens to leak Ticketmaster customer data, Home Affairs Department investigating
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Australia’s Department of Home Affairs is investigating reports that a criminal group is trying to sell the data of 560 million Ticketmaster users.
The user, claiming to be the ShinyHunters hacking group, advertised the sale of the stolen data, claiming to have hacked the Live Nation-owned ticketing giant.
The posts advertise the sale of details, totaling 1.3 terabytes, including names, credit card information, addresses and emails, for $US500,000 ($A750,000).
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Cybersecurity Industry Publication CyberDaily reported that a sample of the data was included in a publication promoting the sale.
The Home Office has confirmed it is “aware” of the cyber incident and the National Cyber Security Office is working with Ticketmaster to investigate it.
7NEWS.com.au has contacted Ticketmaster for comment.
It is not yet known how many, if any, Australian customers have been put at risk, but experts say the public “will rightly be concerned about the implications of disclosing personal information”.
Paul Haskell-Dowland, Professor of Cyber Security Practice at Edith Cowan University, told 7NEWS.com.au that while it is still early in the investigation process, it is “important that the public does not panic and remains vigilant”. .
“Users of their service should be wary of any communications purporting to be from the organization and if credit card details are held on Ticketmaster, it would be advisable to contact your card issuer,” he said.
“We are also likely to see scams that use history as a ‘hook’ to target victims – not necessarily just the cybercriminals involved in the incident.” Never click on links in unsolicited emails or SMS messages and independently verify the legitimacy of calls.
“This should apply even when the call, email or text appears to be genuine.”
The hack comes just days after the US Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation Entertainment.
The civil antitrust lawsuit filed against Live Nation alleges “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that frustrates competition” in the live entertainment industry.
“We allege that Live Nation has relied on illegal, anticompetitive conduct to exert its monopoly control over the U.S. live events industry at the expense of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“The result is that fans pay more fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play gigs, smaller promoters are squeezed out and venues have less real choice for ticketing services. It’s time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”
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