Uber Admits Hiding a Hack in 2016

Uber has formally accepted responsibility for the 2016 data breach cover-up that exposed the data of 57 million passengers and drivers. The company has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors.

As part of the non-prosecution agreement, Uber admitted that the company failed to inform the Federal Trade Commission about the cyberattack. According to US Attorney Stephanie Hinds, the company remained silent about the breach for about a year after it had new management which "established a strong tone from the top" regarding ethics and compliance.

Uber has also agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of former security chief Joe Sullivan, who was fired by the company shortly after the incident came to light. He is accused of arranging to pay hackers $100,000 in bitcoins, then getting them to sign non-disclosure agreements that falsely stated they had not stolen data.