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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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