In this photo taken Monday, May 11, 2009, Ticketmaster tickets for a concert are shown at a box office in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Ticketmaster has been warning some Canadian customers that their data may have been compromised during a recent security breach.
An email sent by the ticket sales platform to customers this week reveals “an unauthorized third party” snagged information from a cloud database hosted by an unnamed third-party data services provider sometime between April 2 and May 18.
The email said the company determined on May 23 that some of its customers’ names, basic contact information, and payment card information such as encrypted credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates were part of the breach.
“We are fully committed to protecting your information, and deeply regret that this incident occurred,” the email said.
The missive comes months after Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s Beverly Hills, Calif.-based parent company, said in regulatory filings that on May 27 “a criminal threat actor” offered to sell Ticketmaster data on the dark web.
Several media outlets reported at the time that ShinyHunters, a cyberattack group thought to have formed in 2020, was behind the attack that allegedly scooped up data belonging to 560 million Ticketmaster users. (ShinyHunters has been linked to past attacks on tech giant Microsoft, telecom firm AT&T Wireless and storytelling site Wattpad.)
Ticketmaster spokespeople did not answer questions The Canadian Press sent them about the number of Canadians affected by the recent breach and instead provided a link to a webpage the company has set up to address user queries.
The page said the company is working with authorities and cybersecurity experts, credit-card companies and banks to investigate the incident but has found no further unauthorized activity.
In response to the breach, Ticketmaster offered credit-monitoring services to customers in Canada and also recommended they monitor their bank activity and emails to ensure there’s no suspicious activity.
“Be cautious of unsolicited emails from unknown senders, especially those with unusual content, links, attachments, or requests for personal information over the phone,” the company warned.
— with files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2024.
