News + Trends
Snowflake security leak: Is the Ticketmaster hack just the tip of the iceberg?
by Florian Bodoky
After Ticketmaster hack: perpetrators offer Taylor Swift ticket codes online
9.7.2024
Translation: machine translated
A few weeks ago, 560 million customer data records were stolen from the ticket portal "Ticketmaster". But apparently it doesn't stop there. The perpetrators also appear to be able to reproduce barcodes for tickets - and are threatening the organiser.
About a month ago, a hacker group called "ShinyHunters" managed to penetrate the system of the ticket portal Ticketmaster and download a total of 560 million customer records. According to their own statements, they managed to do this via cloud supplier Snowflake, although there is disagreement as to whether this is true.
Now the incident is spreading. A user under the name "Sp1d3rHunters" has leaked 166,000 barcodes in relevant forums, which are supposed to allow entry to various Taylor Swift concerts. According to the portal BleepingComputer, the same group that captured the access data to the Snowflake accounts is behind this offence.
The posted barcodes contain data about the concerts, such as seating information, the sector, the value of the tickets and so on. In his post, the user also explains how this data can be converted into a scannable (QR) code. The user also blackmailed the company.
The post reads: "Pay us two million US dollars or we will pass on all 680 million data records and 30 million event barcodes. Including more Taylor Swift concerts, Pink, Sting, sporting events, Formula 1, MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League) and thousands of other events."
Ticketmaster confirmed that they had received this letter but had not responded to it. The extortionists are clearly only trying to make concert organisers and visitors nervous and unsure. These barcodes are not usable, as Ticketmaster assured them. The so-called SafeTix technology protects the tickets by generating a new, unique barcode every few seconds. This means that it cannot be stolen or copied. There are also "further protective measures against fraud".
There is therefore no reason for Ticketmaster customers to worry. Nevertheless, the user announced in the forum that further Ticketmaster data would be leaked next week. Moreover, the leaks relate exclusively to codes for concerts in the USA. Taylor Swift concerts in Europe, for example those on 9 and 10 July at Letzigrund in Zurich, have not yet been affected.
Header image: Shutterstock
I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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