Washington: Uber suffered a massive data breach exposing the personal data of 57 million customers and drivers last year, which the company concealed for more than a year.
According to a Bloomberg report, two people outside the company accessed the personal information of 57 million Uber users including names, email addresses and phone number.
The company said more sensitive information, such as location data, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, and birth dates, had not been compromised.
Company failed to notify the incidents to individuals or to affected customers, but instead paid $100,000 to “hackers” to get rid of the data in order to keep the breach under wraps, according to the report.
However, Uber had not confirmed that it paid this ransom.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement that he recently learned of the breach.
Khosrowshahi, who became CEO in August, said that the company is now notifying regulatory authorities.
“None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it. While I can’t erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
It’s the latest blow to Uber, which is trying to improve its public image.
This week, the company was fined almost $9 million for background check issues in Colorado in the United States. (ANI)