A hacking group called ShinyHunters claims to have breached Ticketmaster, stealing the personal details of 560 million customers.
The stolen data reportedly includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and partial credit card details.
It is being offered for sale at $500,000 in a “one-time sale” on an online forum.
The Australian government has launched an investigation into these claims.
According to a US Embassy spokesperson in Canberra, the FBI is offering to Australian authorities.
A spokesperson for the Australian Home Affairs Department said, “The Australian Government is aware of a cyber incident impacting Ticketmaster.”
The National Office of Cyber Security is collaborating with Ticketmaster to understand the breach.
The department has urged affected people to contact Ticketmaster directly.
Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, have not issued any statements regarding the potential breach.
The authenticity of ShinyHunters’ data has not yet been verified.
Hackread and CyberDaily, which is based in Australia, initially reported the alleged hack.
According to the US Justice Department, ShinyHunters is known for exposing vast customer records from over 60 companies in 2020-21.
Earlier this year, Sebastien Raoult, a French hacker and member of ShinyHunters, was sentenced to three years in prison in Seattle.
The stolen data reportedly includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and partial credit card details
He was ordered to pay over $5 million in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Katina Michael, a cybersecurity professor at Australia’s University of Wollongong, highlighted the increasing severity of hacking incidents.
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She warned the number of people affected by such breaches could reach up to one billion.
She criticized the lack of adequate protection mechanisms, such as two-factor authentication, among governments, companies, and consumers.
The DOJ recently sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of illegally monopolizing the live entertainment industry to the detriment of concertgoers and artists.
The 128-page civil suit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks structural changes to the company’s operations, potentially including dissolving the two entities.
Ticketmaster’s mishandling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in 2022 had already prompted public outcry and a DOJ probe into Live Nation’s control over the entertainment and ticketing industries.
