Bloomberg is reporting that hackers stole the personal data of 57 million riders and drivers from Uber. They go on to state that this data breach has been concealed for more than a year and lead to Chief Security Office and one deputy losing their job this week. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the stolen data and keep the breach quiet, despite the fact that they had a legal obligation to report the hack to both regulators and those affected. According to an Uber statement:
- Names & driver’s licence numbers of around 600,000 drivers was breached.
- Personal information of 57 million Uber users around the world was breached. This included the following information:
- Names
- Email addresses
- Mobile phone numbers
Riders can find more information here. Drivers can find more information here.
Data breaches are all too common these days, Equifax recently reported a breach of 143 million customers. The good news is that this Uber breach doesn’t involve payment data or things like your SSN. Uber has been desperately trying to improve their image with their 180 days of change program, a data breach of this scale certainly won’t help with that.
How do they report so closely that the data was deleted because of the 199k paymen?! What exactly gurantees that the hackers didn’t keep a copy?
I’m sure they are an honest group of hackers. Good salt of the Earth types. They said they would delete it, so I’m sure they did. If you can’t trust a bunch of blackmailing criminals, who can you trust?
Your’e right i’m embarrassed that i even doubted it.
There are many more consumer data breaches that go unpublicized.
Sure, Uber could have been more transparent, but a major takeaway should be that any database however secure is hackable. We each provide retailers our bio-data and financial data at our own risk.
No Uber gift cards in my Christmas stocking, please. A lump of coal has more integrity.
Kalanick needs to go. And Why are people still using Uber when you can easily use Lyft wherever Uber is?
He’s been gone for awhile.
Kalanick is not gone. He’s not CEO anymore, but he is still on the board of directors. And he has handpicked lacky-directors with him on the board who will do whatever he says. Kalanick thinks that if he can consolidate his power, he can pull a Steve Jobs and come back as CEO of Uber one day.
No he can’t… he’s gone. Tilt at another windmill.
Kalanick is not gone and yes he can. Kalanick controls the board of directors. He has the power to appoint board members. He has the power to appoint board members without the content of anybody. He he did so recently when he appointed two new members who will act to protect him.
Softbank is in talks about making a big investment with Uber. And if Softbank does make their investment, Softbank will be able to limit Kalanick ability to appoint board members. But that’s only if Softbank makes their investment. If Softbank doesn’t make their investment, Kalanick’s power will remain unchecked.
$15/month AMEX Platinum credits, and referral credits. I try not to actually pay for UBER rides out of my own pocket.
What an absolute garbage company. Garbage company full of garbage executives (excluding Dara Khosrowshahi since he only just arrived at the company). Kalanick needs to leave the board of directors. Leave the board and take his board member lackeys with him. Give Khosrowshahi the clean slate he needs to fix the horrendous culture at this gargage company. I know Kalanick won’t leave. But he should.
Kalanick was (and still is) a douche who lucked out twice (Just Google “Red Swoosh”…). The main problem is that it’s not a sustainable business. It’s never posted a profit and they burn through VC cash subsidizing rides, since the rates are too low and they can’t keep drivers. They keep focusing on self-driving cars (and now apparently flying taxis), when they need to raise their rates and build their delivery and eats arms. They trained riders to expect dirt cheap rides with no tip.
Complete trash. You might as well assume financial info was compromised since they clearly can’t be trusted. Another story that dropped today is Colorado fining them for hiring drivers with DUIs, felonies, and major moving vehicle violations:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-colorado/uber-hit-with-8-9-million-fine-in-colorado-over-unqualified-drivers-idUSKBN1DK2LZ?il=0
US is at full employment. Who do you think is willing to drive you around for minimum wage?
Less than minimum wage in many areas…
Horsehockey
When accounting for expenses borne by the Uber driver, yes, it can sometimes be less than minimum wage. No two Uber drivers are exactly the same, but depending on individual circumstances a driver can end up making less than minimum wage. Uber drivers have to pay for their own car, gas, insurance, maintenance, parking, etc.