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Uber claimed to pay $100,000 to hackers stealing users’ data

Uber claimed to pay $100,000 to hackers stealing users’ data
The drivers’ stolen information also included 600,000 US drivers' license numbers

Mubasher: Personal information of about nearly 57 million Uber customers and drivers was stolen by hackers last October.

Uber, which fired its chief security officer this week on the back of the scandal, has kept the incident hidden for a year, according to a recent statement.

Hackers stole data included names, email addresses, and phone numbers of 50 million Uber customers and 7 million drivers.

The drivers’ stolen information also included 600,000 US drivers' license numbers, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

Instead of notifying regulators and the affected users over stealing their information, Uber is allegedly had "identified the individuals and obtained assurances that the downloaded data had been destroyed," the CEO added.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Uber actually paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the data and keep silent..

“Paying off hackers to keep them quiet and avoid breach disclosure laws is pretty rare and another matter altogether,” said Ben Johnson, chief technology officer for the computer firm Obsidian Security.

“If Uber knew and covered it up and didn’t tell the FTC, that leads to all kinds of problems, including even potentially criminal liability," says Williams McGeveran, a data-privacy focused law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.