Hackers Stole Ticketmaster User Data And Tried To Sell It On The Dark Web, Parent Company Live Nation Says

In an unsettling end-of-week regulatory filing, Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment reported Friday that it had caught a hacker trying to sell user data via the dark web.

The episode dates to May 20, the company said in the SEC filing. At that time, the company said it “identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing company data,” primarily from Ticketmaster. A forensic investigation revealed that on May 27 (this past Monday), a “criminal threat actor” offered what it said was company user data for sale via the dark web.

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

The incident is awkwardly timed, as Live Nation has come under the microscope by federal antitrust regulators. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice filed suit against Live Nation, seeking to separate it from Ticketmaster due to what it calls monopolistic behavior. A range of musical acts have complained about Ticketmaster over the years, but the grievances spilled into the halls of Congress in 2022 after Taylor Swift and her fans became the epicenter of the fight over the cost of tickets. Because Live Nation operates and books most of the leading concert venues, which are then ticketed by Ticketmaster, the government alleges self-dealing, which harms consumers with higher prices. The company has denied it inflates prices or abuses its market position.

As of now, Live Nation added, the episoide has not had a material impact on its overall business operations or financial condition or results. “We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing,” the company noted.