You’ve more likely than not purchased a ticket through Ticketmaster at some point in your lifetime, so you might be interested to find out that Live Nation Entertainment—Ticketmaster’s parent company—has had to file an 8-K with the Security and Exchange Commission to admit that 1.3 terabytes of data had been hacked. The result is that more than 560 million customers’ personal information was stolen from company servers.
What does this mean for you as a potential customer?
Explaining This Hack
A group of hackers calling themselves ShinyHunters broke through Live Nation Entertainment’s servers to find a huge amount of customer data, ripe for the picking. Media reports suggest that they gained access to this data through a third-party cloud provider and were able to steal much of it. This cloud provider claimed the breach occurred because users did not use multi-factor authentication. This allowed the breach to occur thanks to credentials stolen by hackers using credential-stealing malware.
Avoid Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft
If your data is stolen thanks to a retailer getting hacked, there isn’t much to be done. Sometimes, the more admirable companies you might work with will offer you some kind of credit monitoring service, but you can’t always rely on them to do it for you. You should instead take measures to protect yourself in addition to these measures. Here are some things you can do:
How to Secure Your Personal Information
- Strong passwords - Complex passwords should include letters, numbers, and special characters while also avoiding easily guessable information like birthdays or sequences.
- Multi-factor authentication - Two-factor authentication adds additional layers of security to your accounts, making them harder to access for hackers who might only have your password.
- Be careful with personal documents - You should store your important documents in safe locations, including your Social Security card, birth certificate, and passport.
How to Monitor Your Accounts Regularly
- Monitor your bank and credit card statements - Sometimes, you might not notice fraudulent activity unless you look at your transactions. Report any unauthorized activity immediately.
- Keep an eye on your credit report - You can get a free credit report annually from the major credit bureaus. If you see anything unfamiliar or incorrect, you’ll know something is up.
- Have alerts in place - Financial institutions often allow you to set up account alerts, which can let you know if your account has suspicious transactions or changes to your account information.
Be Careful In-Person and Online
- Be wary of phishing scams - If you receive calls, texts, or emails asking you to provide or confirm sensitive information, remain cautious. Only provide information to senders whose identities you can verify.
- Only use secure connections - If you are going to provide information to a banking or shopping website, make sure that the URL has “https://” in it and a padlock symbol to ensure it is secure.
- Don’t share personal information - You should never share information on social media or any other online platform. This includes your full name, address, phone number, and date of birth, all of which can be used to steal your identity.
This started as an article about Ticketmaster and gradually became more general and actionable advice for keeping your identity secure. In any case, if you were a victim of the Ticketmaster breach, consider taking all of the above actions into consideration. You can count on us to report on the latest happenings in security breaches on our blog.
