Uber admits to hacking – investigating the extent of damage

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Online car-hailing giant Uber said on Thursday that its computer system had been hacked. According to the company, relevant authorities are aware and they are on top of the issue. The company reportedly shut down multiple internal systems in an attempt to determine the extent of the damage to its network. The ride-hailing company said in a tweet that it was “responding to a cybersecurity incident”. According to reports from insiders, the hacker posted a message on Slack with regards to the hack. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the insiders do not need their names in print.

The New York Times also reported on Thursday, citing an Uber spokesman, that a hacker compromised an employee’s workplace messaging app Slack. The hacker then used it to send messages to Uber employees announcing the company had suffered a data breach. According to reports, Uber employees received a message Thursday afternoon that read, “I announce that I am a hacker and that Uber has suffered a data breach”. In response to the message, Uber had to shut down its Slack messaging system, as well as some engineering systems.

Uber employee was deceived

Notably, the hackers appear to also have access to other internal systems. He also posted an explicit photo on the employee’s internal information page. A person who claims responsibility for the hack told The New York Times that he sent a text message to an Uber employee, claiming to be the company’s IT staff. The employee was persuaded to hand over a password that gave hackers access to Uber’s internal systems, the report said.

According to a statement from Slack to Reuters, the company is investigating the incident. Furthermore, Slack claims that there is no evidence that its platform had inherent vulnerabilities. “Uber is a valuable customer, and if they need us, we’re here to help them,” Slack said in a statement.