Uber cyber attack threatens 118m app users

UBER has been hacked in a cyber security attack that threatens to compromise the personal and financial details of the ride hailing app’s 118m users.

Screenshots posted to social media showed the hacker, who claimed to be aged 18, appeared to have gained admin access to major web services used by the taxi and food delivery business.

It comes as a former head of security for Uber, Joe Sullivan, stands trial in the US, accused of paying hush money to cover up a previous hacking incident that exposed the details of 57m Uber users. He denies the charges.

Services illicitly accessed early yesterday included Uber’s email and file storage provider Google, Amazon Web Services – used for the software that powers Uber’s app – internal chat app Slack; other websites Uber uses for tracking employee expenses; and even an account on cyber security incident reporting website Hackerone.

Marten Mickos, chief executive of Hackerone, said on Twitter that he had disabled the affected account.

Uber’s share price dropped 5pc in pre-market trading yesterday.

In a statement, Uber said: “We are currently responding to a cyber security incident. We are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available.”

Company representatives did not respond to The Daily Telegraph’s questions about the hack and it is unclear how much customer data has been affected.

There was no information last night as to whether credit card details had been illicitly accessed or leaked.