Live Nation has been slapped with a class action lawsuit over a massive Ticketmaster data breach that reportedly exposed the personal information of as much as 560 million users.
The lawsuit was filed Friday in a federal court in California, and seeks no less than $5 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The entertainment giant is being accused of failing to protect the personal information of their users, after hacker group ShinyHunters managed to penetrate Ticketmaster’s database in April. The full names, phone numbers, addresses and credit card information belonging to as much as 560 million customers were reportedly exposed. The Live Nation-owned firm did not discover the breach for almost two months, and it took the company four months to notify those impacted, the outlet reported.
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 11: A Live Nation sign is seen inside a Blockbuster store February 11, 2009 in New York City. Music corporations Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment announced merger plans raising anti-trust concerns. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster failed to use proper security measures to block the hackers from accessing the sensitive data, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company is also being accused of failing to alert users about the breach of their personal data.
The lawsuit alleges negligence and seeks a financial settlement on behalf of millions of users, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Ticketmaster breach was reported as being the most recent in a wave of cyberattacks this year against media and telecom firms.
ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the infiltration and called for a ransom of $500,000 to ensure the data would not be marketed on the dark web. The lawsuit pointed a finger at Ticketmaster, saying the hack was due to a failure to implement safeguards for the data, including “vendor management necessary to protect” consumers’ personally identifiable information, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 23: Signs are seen at the Live Nation NYC headquarters on May 23, 2024 in New York City. The Department of Justice has filed a federal lawsuit that accuses Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation of illegally monopolizing the live entertainment industry to the detriment of concertgoers and artists alike. The lawsuit seeks to structure how the company operates and includes breaking apart the two entities. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The hack was tied to to a third-party server managed by Snowflake, an online cloud company, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Users accuse Ticketmaster of not confirming that Snowflake followed appropriate security precautions. Snowflake has not been named in this litigation.
Affected users further alleged Ticketmaster kept personal information beyond when it should have been removed, claiming that the company sells user data to third parties, and alleged consumers were harmed by increased opportunities for identity theft, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
ShinyHunters also allegedly stole more than 900 million customer records in hacks of Pizza Hut, AT&T and GitHub, as well as other firms, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (RELATED: DOJ Takes Aim At Alleged Predatory Practices By Live Nation)
Users “now face years of constant surveillance of their financial and personal records,” the complaint reads, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
