It’s Not Just Taylor Swift—Hackers Claim These Tours At Risk In Ticketmaster Breach

Photo Credit: Kaleb Nimz

Hackers are playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with Ticketmaster after a data breach has leaked more than 440,000 Taylor Swift ticket buyers’ personal details. Now investigators are taking aim at discovering who is behind the hack that impacts multiple artists—not just Taylor Swift.While the hacking collective ShinyHunters have featured Taylor Swift tickets prominently in their back and forth with Ticketmaster, several other artists who are touring now have been impacted. Ticket buyers to shows including Pearl Jam, Sammy Hagar, Stevie Nicks, and Steve Miller Band are impacted.

Tours including Usher’s “Past Present Future Tour,” P!nk’s “Summer Carnival,” Aerosmith’s “Peace Out Farewell Tour,” Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Love Earth Tour,” Alanis Morissette’s “The Triple Moon Tour,” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Unlimited Love Tour,” and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Bands’ 2024 tour. Reports suggest tickets for several Cirque du Soleil tickets are also included in the leak.

Digital Music News has reported on the ongoing nature of the data leak, including the ShinyHunters group taunting Ticketmaster’s statement that says tickets can be reset. “Pay us $2 million or we will leak the mail and e-ticket barcodes for all of your events,” the group said in a threat. On Breach Forum, a popular site for black hat individuals to share techniques, the group seemingly released a DIY step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own printable tickets based on leaked information.

The hackers claim to have access to 193 million barcodes, more than half a million of them are for upcoming shows. To prove their claims, the group released a tranche of Taylor Swift tickets for an upcoming show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN for three nights in November. The group also claims to have asked for a ransom of $8 million not to leak the information or sell it to the highest bidder.Ticketmaster has begun contacting users whose data was contained in the breach, suggesting identity theft monitoring service. It also claims that its SafeTix technology can prevent leaked tickets from being useable because it refreshes a new and unique barcode every few seconds. In its regulatory filing in May with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Live Nation did not detail how many accounts were impacted by the data breach.

According to Live Nation’s full year report, in 2023 more than 620 million tickets were sold through Ticketmaster to various music shows, festivals, performances, and sporting events. More than 145 million users attended those events—suggesting the data breach could impact millions of Americans. The news comes as The U.S. Justice Department and Attorneys General of 28 states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

“I am deeply alarmed by Ticketmaster’s failure to notify consumers fully and promptly about the May hack,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a statement about the ongoing brouhaha. “There are urgent concerns about what information was stolen and how that data might be exploited. I am monitoring the situation closely and urge any consumers who may have been impacted to enroll in the free credit monitoring service Ticketmaster is providing, and be vigilant of their bank accounts for any suspcious activity.”