ticketfly

Ticketfly still down (ransom demand??); Music Venues & Bands feeling the pain

ticketfly

Online ticketing service Ticketfly is still down, more than 24 hours since announcing they were the “target of a cyber incident.” It’s staying down as they investigate, and they “don’t have a specific timeline to share right now. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by this incident and are working around the clock to resolve the issue and get all Ticketfly systems back up and running.” Read more from their “Cyber Incident Update” page.

As to what this “cyber incident” is, an article on Hypebot points to clues that Ticketfly.com could be being held for ransom by hackers:

Code left on the Ticketfly site points to the hacker group IsHaKdZ, who appears to be demanding a ransom Along with a yandex.com email address, the hackers left this message:

…Ticketfly HacKeD By IsHaKdZ. Your Security Down im Not Sorry. Next time I will publish database “backstage.”…

Hackers generally only leave an email address and make threats about ‘next time’ when they are demanding a ransom to release the site

We’ll hold off fully believing that one until we hear more, but probably a plausible theory?

In addition to inconveniencing people trying to buy tickets, it also majorly affects venue using Ticketfly. Venues who use Ticketfly have websites that are often built/run on Ticketfly software so their show calendars and email lists, and in some cases the entire sites, are down, too.

Some venues, like Brooklyn Bowl here in NYC, are using Eventbrite (which recently purchased Ticketfly) as a workaround:

Some venues, like Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre, are pushing today’s on-sales (like for their Social Distortion show) to next week. Others are telling customers they can buy at the door (a very Trent Reznor workaround.)

Florence & the Machine pushed back their DC show on sale date:

Warped Tour also affected:

Many bands have been reminding fans that their shows are not sold out and that tickets will be available at the door:

Other NYC-area venues that use Ticketfly include Bowery Ballroom, The Bell House, Baby’s All Right, White Eagle Hall, Littlefield, Union Hall, Union Pool, St. Vitus, Mercury Lounge, and Alphaville. You can read Twitter updates many of them, plus ACL Live in Austin and more, below.

Following recent issues our ticketing provider, Ticketfly, has temporarily taken all Ticketfly systems offline. As a…

Posted by ACL Live on Thursday, May 31, 2018