Uber paid off hackers, concealed data breach affecting 57 million people
In October 2016, hackers stole the personal data of 57 million Uber customers and drivers, the company announced Tuesday.
Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the data, which included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and in the case of some U.S. drivers, driver's license numbers. The company told Bloomberg they do not believe the information was ever used, and its chief security officer and deputy were let go this week for not going public with the hack.
"None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "We are changing the way we do business." A spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he has launched an investigation into the hack.
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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