560 million Ticketmaster customers’ personal information is allegedly in the possession of a bunch of hackers.

The gang claiming responsibility, ShinyHunters, claims that partial credit card details, phone numbers, addresses, and names of Ticketmaster users worldwide are among the stolen data.

According to reports, the hacking organisation is requesting a $500,000 ransom to stop the data from being sold to third parties.

To resolve the matter, the Australian government claims to be collaborating with Ticketmaster. According to an Agence France-Presse spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Canberra, the FBI has also volunteered to help.

According to an FBI spokeswoman, the agency “has no comment on this matter” to the BBC.

“The Australian Government is aware of a cyber incident impacting Ticketmaster,” a spokesperson for the Australia Home Affairs Department said in a statement to the BBC’s media partner CBS News.

“The National Office of Cyber Security is engaging with Ticketmaster to understand the incident.”

One of the biggest online ticket sales platforms in the world, the American website Ticketmaster, has not yet confirmed if there has been a security compromise.

Although authorities in Australia, where the story was initially reported, have said they are looking into it, cyber security experts are cautioning that the accusations may not be true.

A post featuring some purportedly stolen data samples was made on the website BreachForums, a recently reopened hacker community.

A number of high-profile data breaches that cost the affected firms millions of dollars in losses have been connected to ShinyHunters.

The gang offered a legitimate database containing information that had been taken from 70 million AT&T subscribers in the US in 2021.

Nearly 200,000 Pizza Hut customers in Australia had their data compromised in September of last year.

This most recent purported theft occurs concurrently with the reopening of BreachForums, a dark web marketplace where other hackers trade stolen content and credentials to commit hacks.

Tech media reports that although the FBI cracked down on the site in March 2023 and arrested its administrator, Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, it has since returned.

In order to draw attention from other hackers, forum users frequently exaggerate the scope of their hacking.

Large stolen datasets frequently make their initial appearance there, but they can also contain fake accusations and assertions.

“If Ticketmaster has had a breach of this scale it is important they inform customers but it is important to also consider that sometimes criminal hackers make false or inflated claims about data breaches – so people should not be overly concerned until a breach is confirmed,” says security researcher Kevin Beaumont.

People who have previously claimed to have significant volumes of data really have copies of earlier breaches rather than newly obtained material.

However, based on the quantity and scope of the stolen data, the attack may turn out to be the biggest ever.

There have previously been security problems with Ticketmaster.

It acknowledged hacking into a rival company in 2020 and settled to pay a $10 million punishment.

It was purportedly the target of a cyberattack in November, which caused issues with ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Era tour.

US regulators filed a lawsuit against Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, earlier this month, alleging the entertainment behemoth was engaging in illicit practices to preserve its monopoly in the live music sector.

The Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that the company’s business tactics drove away rivals, raised ticket costs, and provided subpar customer service.

(Adapted from BBC.com)

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