If You've Bought Tickets with Ticketmaster Recently, Your Data Might Be for Sale on the Dark Web
According to a new SEC filing by Live Nation Entertainment, a security breach has put untold troves of personal data at risk.
Live Nation is the owner of the ubiquitous ticket-selling platform Ticketmaster, and that platform appears to “primarily” be the issue, according to the filing.
“On May 20, 2024, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”) identified unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing Company data (primarily from its Ticketmaster L.L.C. subsidiary) and launched an investigation with industry-leading forensic investigators to understand what happened,” Live Nation’s filing reads.
Perhaps most concerning of all to users, Live Nation admitted that it was approached about possibly buying some of this breached user data.
“On May 27, 2024, a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web,” the filing reads. “We are working to mitigate risk to our users and the Company, and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement.
“As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorized access to personal information.”
Interestingly, Live Nation didn’t seem particularly worried about the breach, at least in terms of its potential impact on their business.
“As of the date of this filing, the incident has not had, and we do not believe it is reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our overall business operations or on our financial condition or results of operations,” the filing noted. “We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing.”
While the primary concern of the Live Nation security breach is obviously for the customer, the incident also caps off a rough time for the entertainment conglomerate in general.
This SEC filing comes just days after the company was rocked by a lawsuit spearheaded by the Department of Justice.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia are joining the DOJ in this lawsuit, which effectively calls Live Nation owning Ticketmaster owning a monopoly.
According to reporting from Rolling Stone magazine, consumer complaints allege that Live Nation effectively runs a scam where it charges exorbitant and superfluous fees, which then get dispersed to various entities within the venue.
The issue, however, is that Live Nation also owns most of those various entities. It’s akin to robbing Paul to pay Peter, except Peter and you have a side agreement to split the money.
The lawsuit essentially pushes Live Nation toward the divestiture of Ticketmaster.
And while not nearly as ominous as the federal government, Ticketmaster also incensed “Swifties” (die-hard fans of pop superstar Taylor Swift) in 2022, when high demand for Swift tickets effectively crashed the whole site.
Many have surmised that the 2022 Swift incident was what spurred the DOJ to kick things into overdrive against Live Nation.
Regardless of where it began, the lawsuit is a very real issue for Live Nation — as is this security breach.
Infuriating users is one thing, as consumer trust can be rebuilt.
Losing the trust of users? That’s a bigger issue that will definitely have a tangible impact on business, no matter how much Live Nation may brush it off.
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