Ticketmaster suffers massive data breach

Ticketmaster, the world’s leading online ticketing platform owned by Live Nation, has been dealt a severe blow as a group of hackers called ShinyHunters claims to have stolen the personal details of some 560 million customers globally. The stolen data trove reportedly includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and partial credit card information.

The cybercriminals are now demanding a ransom payment of $500,000 to prevent the data from being sold on the dark web, a shadowy corner of the internet where illegal goods and services are traded.

Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, a cybersecurity firm, expressed concern over the magnitude of the breach. “The extent of the data accessed by the cyber criminals remains uncertain at this point. As Ticketmaster is a leading online ticketing platform worldwide, anyone who has ever bought a ticket on Ticketmaster should remain vigilant,” she cautioned.

The Ticketmaster breach has been linked to attacks against its cloud provider Snowflake, which has affected at least six companies so far, including the financial services giant Santander.

Ms. Collard advised customers to monitor their credit card accounts closely and change passwords if they were used elsewhere. She also recommended enabling multi-factor authentication where possible to enhance account security.

“Watch out for bogus emails, messages, and phone calls,” she warned. “Cybercriminals often use the information they have to deceive victims into sharing more personal details. Some scammers may take advantage of the fear caused by a hack to manipulate you into providing more information.”

Ticketmaster customers are advised to only react to official communication from the company’s official websites, ticketmaster.co.za or ticketmaster.com, and to be wary of unsolicited messages or emails demanding immediate action.

The breach has far-reaching implications, as Ticketmaster handles ticket sales for high-profile events worldwide, including the upcoming concerts of Roxette, Andrea Bocelli, and the Rugby Championship Test between the Springboks and All Blacks in September.

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