The former chief security officer of Uber, Joe Sullivan, has been found guilty of criminal obstruction for failing to report a 206 cybersecurity incident to authorities, according to The Guardian.
Sullivan was fired from Uber in 2017. A San Francisco jury found him guilty on counts of obstruction of justice and deliberate concealment of felony. The former Uber employee worked to hide a data breach from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and made the necessary steps to prevent hackers from getting caught.
The breach pertains to the affected data of 57 million passengers and drivers in 2015. However, Uber only disclosed it to the public a year later. The US requires public disclosures of security breachers "in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay."
With the recent revelation of the ride-sharing company, it sparked federal and state inquiries. In 2018, the company paid $148 million to settle claims by all 50 US states and Washington DC that it was too slow to disclose the hacking. The two hackers pleaded guilty to hacking Uber and extorting Uber's "bug bounty" security research program the next year.
In 2020, the justice department filed criminal charges against Sullivan. During that time, prosecutors alleged that he fixed to pay the hackers $100,000 in bitcoin and made them sign NDAs. He was also accused of withholding information from Uber officials.
In July, Uber accepted its responsibility for covering up the breach and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of Sullivan over his role in concealing the hacking as part of a settlement to settlement to avoid criminal charges.
Also Read: Former Uber Security Chief Faces Trial Five Years After Mega Data Breach
The Rise of Data Breaches
Data breaches have increased significantly in the past few years. Hackers have been actively targeting organizations and breaching their data.
This is why it is important for everyone to be careful with what they choose to do and not to share personal information to undesired sources.
It is also essential to practice better account security, like through two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication makes you come up with a different form of protection when you login in to your accounts by requiring you to provide something you know, like a password, and something you have, like a device that will receive a one-time code.
In addition to this, there are companies that are willing to help you secure your data and avoid being a victim of data breaches.
As for Uber, it has since been trying to improve its image and settle lawsuits from 2018. In 2020, the company released its action plan to protect rider and driver information. This includes preventing abusive access to data, implementing more basic security features, and investigating data protection.
Related Article: Uber: Security Breach Left Personal Data Of 50,000 Drivers Compromised -- But Don't Panic
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Written by April Fowell
