A security breach was discovered at a third-party vendor that SUNY Oswego utilizes for various campus events, including the Lakers ice hockey games.

An email sent Feb 24. to the campus community informed that ticketing vendor AudienceView experienced a nationwide security breach. The breach affected those who used the platform to make purchases throughout February.

“SUNY Oswego has been made aware that our third-party vendor for campus event ticketing “AudienceView” (formerly known as “University Tickets”) has experienced a security beach. If you used a credit card to purchase tickets through tickets.oswego.edu during February 2023, this message contains important information and action for you to take,” said a joint statement from Victoria Furlong, the vice president for administration and finance and Sean Moriarty, the chief technology officer.

The email later reads that the breach from the vendor is affecting clients nationwide, including various higher education institutions.

Per AudienceView’s website, some of their biggest advocates include Johns Hopkins University, Atlantic Theater Company, Sonoma State University and more.

A security breach occurs when an outside party or organization compromises information on another group or person that they are not affiliated with. The intruders publish that information over the Internet, affecting those who use the platform.

Security and data breaches have become more common throughout the past few years, with various companies acting to improve the security of their servers.

“A security breach is an incident where an unauthorized individual or entity gains access to confidential, sensitive, or protected information or resources they are not authorized to access,” Charles Beedy, the help desk coordinator at Campus Technology Services, wrote in a statement about security breaches.

Beedy also wrote that breaches may occur in various ways and that it may result in the loss of data, financial resources and other assets.

In response to the breach on AudienceView, the university has suspended all purchases on their website, and ceased all operations for ticket sales, except in person or over the phone.

“We do have procedures when there’s a security breach, but there’s also incidents, so we would start with a security incident,” Sean Moriarty, chief technology officer, said. “If something happens, then we start researching it and then we determine if it’s a breach or not.”

The university is encouraging those who used the service to report to University Police of any suspicious activities or unknown transactions made with their credit card information.

The AudienceView breach is also affecting other university clients.

Virginia Tech Police reported that they are investigating multiple instances of credit card fraud stemming from the security breach, according to wdbj7.com.

University at Buffalo also closed online operations on their ticketing website after the information of 292 customers may have been jeopardized according to ubspectrum.com.

An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the breach.

Photo by: Mackenzie Shields