Uber was hacked - Now what?

By now you may have heard reports about Uber being hacked.

The hacker (who is claiming to be an 18-year-old) has admin level access to Ubers cloud systems as well as their source code.

This hacker likely has access to every bit of Ubers data (including info related to employees, drivers and customers).

There are a few things that you should be aware of.

• The Hacker tricked an employee into giving him access to the company’s network.
• While his method has not yet been confirmed, it appears as if he claimed to be from Ubers IT department and needed access to the employee’s system. 
• The employee fell for the scam and gave the hacker access, and everything went downhill from there.
• This type of scam is called Social Engineering and as you can see, the consequences can be devastating. 
• Social Engineering scams attempt to trick you into trusting the scammer. There may also me an element of urgency (like a request from a boss or something that is time sensitive).
• Human nature is to try and please our bosses, employees and colleagues, and this scam exploits that. 

A few lessons that need to be learned from this (still developing) incident.

1. Don’t automatically trust anyone. Question actions that you take and ask yourself if what you are doing could compromise your company.
2. Be vigilant. Nearly 100% of breaches come from employee mistakes. 
3. Every employee has the ability to protect their company, you matter. 
4. If your Uber account uses the same email/password combination that you use for your email, change you email password. 
5. If you feel something is off or suspicious, utilize your resources. Reach out to your Helpdesk for support.

About the Author

Mendy Kupfer is the CEO of Gigabit Systems one of North Americas leading IT and Cybersecurity services providers. His company helps all businesses throughout the US and Canada to Design, Implement, Support, Protect and Scale their companies. Gigabit Systems is making a difference, helping companies of all sizes, defend against the serious threats facing them. Mendy is a firm believer in giving back to his community and holds executive board memberships to several community nonprofit organizations. 

Outside of work, Mendy enjoys spending time with his family, traveling including renting airbnb’s in random places, absorbing the local cultureand reading about ,space, technology, and business.

www.gigabitsys.com

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