Staff Laughed, But This Uber Hack Is Serious

On September 16, 2022, Uber’s official communications team tweeted that they were investigating a “cybersecurity incident” within the company. Uber’s tweet was released after a set of social media posts pointed to a boastful individual claiming to have been behind a significant hack of Uber’s digital defenses. Posts included screenshots from the official Uber Slack, showing the alleged hacker claiming that Uber had suffered a data breach and that the company was underpaying its drivers. Several Uber employees initially assumed the post was a joke and responded as such.

The alleged hacker also contacted mainstream news outlets to brag about their exploits. According to The New York Times, the hacker claimed they were an 18-year-old teen who believed that Uber had weak security protocols. 

This same individual also suggested that they gained access to Uber’s internal communications systems using a social engineering “hack.” The process involved the hacker fraudulently posing as a senior Uber executive and communicating with an Uber employee for a password to access Uber’s systems.

In response to the incident, Uber asked its employees to stop using Slack and took their internal messaging channel offline. Other internal employee tools within Uber were also taken offline. The company’s official reaction to the incident was that they had begun an internal investigation and that they were in touch with law enforcement agencies. The company continues to remain tight-lipped about the incident but maintains that it will have more to say in the days to come.