Customers urged to monitor accounts after Ticketmaster cyber attack

Security experts have urged affected users to monitor all their online accounts for signs of fraud in the wake of a data breach at Ticketmaster.

The online ticketing company confirmed on Wednesday it had suffered a cyber attack in which the data of up to 40,000 UK customers may have been accessed.

The ticket sales site said that malicious software on third-party customer support product Inbenta Technologies was behind the hack.

Cyber security expert Simon McCalla, chief technology officer at UK firm Nominet, praised Ticketmaster's response to the incident, but warned customers needed to be vigilant of potential fraud using compromised personal details from the breach.

"Ticketmaster has responded correctly by working with the ICO, and forensically tracking the breach to identify all those affected, and contacting them to offer advice," he said.

"Customers should wait to hear from them for further information, but should consider changing their passwords to be safe."

The ticketing firm said that all customers would need to reset their Ticketmaster password the next time they visited the site as a precaution.

"We recommend that you monitor your account statements for evidence of fraud or identity theft. If you are concerned or notice any suspicious activity on your account, you should contact your bank(s) and any credit card companies," the firm added.

In a statement issued on a dedicated website set up after the security breach was identified on Saturday, Ticketmaster said less than 5% of its global customer base had been affected, but not customers in North America.

It added: "As a result of Inbenta's product running on Ticketmaster International websites, some of our customers' personal or payment information may have been accessed by an unknown third party.

"We have contacted customers who may have been affected by the security incident.

"UK customers who purchased, or attempted to purchase, tickets between February and June 23 2018 may be affected as well as international customers who purchased, or attempted to purchase, tickets between September 2017 and June 23 2018."

A spokesman for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said: "We are aware of a cyber incident affecting Ticketmaster.

"The NCSC is working with our partners to better understand the incident."

Emmanuel Schalit, chief executive of cyber security firm Dashlane, said all internet users should use the incident as a reason to update their passwords.

"Although only around 40,000 Ticketmaster accounts may have been compromised, password hygiene shouldn't just be those affected's concern. All users should take this opportunity also to make sure all of their passwords are strong across all of their accounts, not just Ticketmaster," he said.

"In practice the ideal password is one that is a unique and random string of letters and numbers that can be randomly and securely generated. As demonstrated here, breaches often go undetected for months, so you never know when your account may have been exposed and your information vulnerable - password hygiene is not just for breaches."