Uber was hacked back in 2016, but they covered it up until now
Last year Uber was hacked, exposing the personal information of 57 million Uber drivers and customers. And the real kicker? The hack remained a secret until now thanks to a $100,000 bribe that was paid to keep the hackers quiet and to destroy the stolen information.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s new CEO, posted a blog post Tuesday ensuring users that there is no evidence that any of the stolen information was used maliciously or at all. He also went on to condemn the actions of those who handled the situation in 2016.
"While I can't erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes," Khosrowshahi wrote. "We are changing the way we do business, putting integrity at the core of every decision we make and working hard to earn the trust of our customers."
Sam Curry, chief security officer for the computer security firm Cybereason said that the pledge made by Khosrowshahi doesn’t negate the fact that the company paid off the hackers and covered up the breach for a year.
"The truly scary thing here is that Uber paid a bribe, essentially a ransom to make this breach go away, and they acted as if they were above the law," Curry said. "Those people responsible for the integrity and confidentiality of the data in-fact covered it up."
This revelation is just the next controversial hurdle in a very long line for Uber. Last June then CEO and co-founder of the company, Travis Kalanick resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment and a myriad of other unsavory activities. It will be interesting to see how Uber’s popularity holds up, especially considering that their fiercest competitor has their eyes on the city of Toronto. Lyft has said that they have plans to be in the city by the end of the year.