Former Uber security chief Joe Sullivan was indicted in a San Francisco court on August 20 for trying to cover up a massive personal data hack in 2016.
Hackers, never identified, had at the time downloaded personal information, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers, on 57 million drivers and passengers of the platform of reservation of cars with driver (VTC). According to investigators, Uber had paid a ransom of $ 100,000 to hackers at the end of 2016 to prevent them from publishing this data on the Internet.
Graduated in 2017
But more than for the security breaches of the company, it was for the attempt to cover up this massive hack, and several lies to regulators, that Joe Sullivan appeared in court. According to prosecutor David Anderson, Mr. Sullivan has “Took steps to cover up the breach and deceive the Federal Trade Commission [agence de protection des consommateurs américaine] ». In the United States, as in most European countries, companies that are victims of personal data theft must notify their affected users, as well as, in some cases, regulators.
Joe Sullivan took over as head of security for the world’s leading VTC in 2015, and was fired in 2017, when the group’s new boss, Dara Khosrowshahi, says he found out what had happened. He faces up to eight years in prison. “We continue to cooperate fully with the investigation of the Ministry of Justice, reacted a spokesperson for Uber. Our 2017 decision to disclose the incident was the right thing to do, and it embodies our operating principles today: transparency, integrity and accountability. “
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