Ticketmaster has acknowledged a significant data breach that has impacted its customers.

As reported by the New York Times, the ticketing platform disclosed in a federal filing on Friday that the hacker collective known as ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for infiltrating the system and stealing information from more than 500 million customers.

Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, identified “unauthorized activity” within a third-party cloud database.

ShinyHunters, known to have been active since around 2020, has previously targeted major companies like Microsoft and AT&T. Their modus operandi typically involves acquiring personal records for the purpose of selling them.

The breach initially surfaced on Tuesday through a forum called BreachForums, where ShinyHunters boasted about having data from 560 million Ticketmaster customers, including sensitive information like credit card numbers and ticket sales. The group allegedly demanded $500,000 in exchange for the data, which purportedly amounted to 1.3 terabytes.

SeatGeek, Live Nation, Airbnb plus more will be apart of the change. 🎟 pic.twitter.com/p3n2AUcQoi

— Complex (@Complex) June 16, 2023

While the exact timing of the breach remains unclear, Ticketmaster detected the illicit activity on May 20. “We are working to mitigate risk to our users and the company, and have notified and are cooperating with law enforcement,” stated the filing, as per the NY Times. “As appropriate, we are also notifying regulatory authorities and users with respect to unauthorized access to personal information.”

In the same filing, Live Nation expressed its belief that the data breach would not have a significant impact on its overall business operations or financial condition.

Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, advised users to change their Ticketmaster passwords as a precautionary measure, despite no evidence suggesting that passwords were compromised.

This breach comes amidst increased scrutiny of Ticketmaster, as the Justice Department recently announced a lawsuit against Live Nation for allegedly maintaining an illegal monopoly within the live entertainment industry.