In 2021, Uber recorded around US$17.5 billion in net revenue.
The platform has around 93 million monthly users worldwide.
The technology company is available in 69 countries and more than 900 cities.
The security and privacy of technology platforms are a recurring theme in many parts of the world. Recently, the transportation and home delivery platformUber confirmed that it is dealing with a “cybersecurity incident” after a hacker teen breaches the ride-sharing giant’s internal systems and begins taunting workers with explicit messages and images.
According to data from the United Nations (UN) in 2021, every second, 14 people around the world were victims of a cyber attack. Given this data, it is estimated that this reality could represent up to 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the internet black market.
According to a study of the consultancy PwCIn 2022, more than 50 percent of companies around the world expect a rebound in cyber threats, surpassing the record for this year. Where, according to all the managers participating in the study, the attacks that will grow the most next year are those that target cloud services and ransomware with 57 percent, followed by malware downloaded through software updates and attacks on the software supply chain and corporate mail with 56 percent.
Uber dealing with a “cybersecurity incident”
Uber recently confirmed having a “cybersecurity incident” after a teenage hacker breached the ride-sharing giant’s internal systems and began mock workers with explicit messages and images.
The hacker who took responsibility reportedly claims to be only 18 years old and gained access to the giant’s internal networks. of ridesharing, pretending to be an IT worker and asking for the password of an unidentified Uber employee.
The alleged hacker revealed the data breach in messages to the media New York Times and cybersecurity researchers.
Uber employees learned the systems were compromised after the hacker posted a cheeky message on the company’s Slack messaging platform.
“I announce that I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach,” the message read. The hacker also reportedly posted that Uber drivers should be “compensated better for their work.”
The hacker appeared to have gained full control of Uber’s systems, he told the New York Times security engineer Sam Curry of Yuga Labs.
“They pretty much have full access to Uber,” Curry said. “This is a total commitment, by the looks of it.”
Also, the hacker allegedly mocked Uber employees by sharing obscene images on the company’s platforms.”
In the face of this breach, Uber was forced to take several of its internal platforms offline after learning of the extensive data breach.
“Currently, we are responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in contact with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available,” Uber said in a statement.
For his part, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had no comment, when asked by The Post for further comment on the situation. But an Uber spokesperson pointed to the company’s brief statement on Twitter.
Kevin Reed, the director of information security at Acronis, said that the hacker probably found “high privilege credentials on a network file share and used them to access everything.”
“What’s worse is that if you had your data in Uber, there’s a good chance that a lot of people would have access to it. Let’s just say if they know your email, then they can know where you live,” Reed wrote on LinkedIn.
“This particular attacker may not have leaked the data, but there is no way of knowing and the whole story makes me think that Uber was compromised by other, less noisy parties.”
And this is how companies, especially technology companies, have been affected by the violation of their systems by cybercriminals who seek to extract all the data of their clients and services.
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