UB reports that Box Office data breach could have been more widespread than initially thought

The data breach of UB Box Office’s third party vendor, AudienceView, may have compromised customer information from August 2022 to February 2023, an investigation by the UB Information Security Office found.

AudienceView had initially reported a data breach on Feb. 22, stating those who made purchases at the UB Box Office between Feb. 17 and Feb. 21 of this year were at risk for having their information compromised. AudienceView estimated that 292 customers may have been affected by the breach in that initial report.

Credit and debit card numbers are among the jeopardized information. 

The Student Government Associations recommended in a Monday email that individuals who made online purchases through the ticket office since the start of the academic year should monitor their credit and bank statements. 

Customers are also advised to report their concerns to their respective financial institutions and notify AudienceView by emailing them at privacy.audienceview@audienceview.com. 

AudienceView will be offering free credit-monitoring services for customers potentially impacted by the data breach. 

The Student Government Associations will not agree to service with the vendor until they “are satisfied with their remediation success,” per their email. 

AudienceView has currently disabled all ticketing services. UB will be using a University-run system to temporarily do ticketing sales. Forms will only be processed on a limited basis. 

Chief Information Security Officer Joe Grupp stated that “UB does not have access to facilitate a review” as the breach happened on AudienceView’s cloud system. He added that AudienceView “is still investigating.” 

AudienceView did not respond to a request for comment. 

Suha Chowdhury is an assistant news editor and can be reached at suha.chowdhury@ubspectrum.com