UBER HID DATA HACK AFFECTING 57 MILLION FOR A YEAR

Uber has said that hackers compromised personal data from some 57 million riders and drivers in a breach kept hidden for a year.

“None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over at the ridesharing giant in August, said.

Two members of the Uber information security team who “led the response” that included not alerting users that their data was breached were let go from the company effective Tuesday, according to Khosrowshahi.

He said he recently learned that outsiders had broken into a cloud-based server used by the company for data and downloaded a “significant” amount of information. Stolen files included names, email addresses, and mobile numbers for riders, and the names and driver license information of 600,000 drivers, according to Uber.

Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to destroy the data, not telling riders or drivers whose information was at risk, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Co-founder and ousted chief Travis Kalanick was advised of the breach shortly after it was discovered, but it was not made public until Uber’s new boss Khosrowshahi learned of the incident.

“While I can’t erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes,” Khosrowshahi said.

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