Uber alert! 50M riders got hacked

THE PERSONAL data of 50 million Uber customers was hacked last year, and the company tried to ride out the massive data breach in silence.

Hackers made off with the names, email addresses and phone numbers of the unsuspecting Uber riders, the company’s new CEO confirmed Tuesday.

“Our outside forensics experts have not seen any indication that trip location history, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers or dates of birth were downloaded,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an open letter posted on Uber’s website.

He said the hackers also stole the personal information of about 7 million drivers, including an estimated 600,000 U.S. driver’s license numbers.

Uber’s chief security officer Joe Sullivan and one of his deputies were ousted from the company this week for their roles in covering up the extensive attack, which should have been reported to regulators.

According to Bloomberg News, Uber paid the hackers a $100,000 ransom to delete the information and stay mum.

Uber said Tuesday it believes the attackers complied with the agreement. The company refused to identify the hackers.

“None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it,” Khosrowshahi, who began running the company in September, said.