Solution
Shubham answered on
Sep 06 2021
UBER 2016: A CASE OF CYBER ATTACK
Executive Summary
Cyber security is a much concerned topic these days as cyber-attacks have made companies to think about the integrity and security of the vast data they holds. As we are moving ahead in the digital era we are facing this problem every now and then with new twists. Uber a company with its presence in almost every country of the world faced two
eaches within a span of two years, which raised question about its governance. In this assignment, we are going to discuss in depth all the aspects of the case and their possible solutions by which such risks can be mitigated by the companies.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Introduction 4
Chronology for Incident 4
Breachers and Their Intentions 5
Technicalities of the Breach 5
Victim Organisation Response 5
Methods Used for Investigation 6
Consequences of the Breach 6
Law of Enforcements 6
Lawsuits: 6
Duty to Report: 7
Control over Security Systems: 7
Prosecution of Threat Actors 7
Conclusion 7
Suggestions 8
Addressing Poor Security Planning: 8
Use of Right Technology: 8
Notification to Parties: 8
Drills to Check Efficiency of Control Measures: 8
Enhanced Monitoring of Integrity: 8
PR Nightmare: 9
Bibliography 10
Introduction
In 2016, Uber an American Technology company was
eached by two of its internal employees who downloaded the internal data from a third party cloud server. Uber used to use this server for storing information for about 57 million users around the world (ABC News, 2017). It reportedly faced first
each in 2014 when personal information related to drivers was stolen by an intruder (ABC News, 2017). The case in the discussion in this assignment is second in Uber’s history (ABC News, 2017). It happened in October-November 2016 (ABC News, 2017). At this time, it was undergoing investigation for the first
each.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss is detail the cyber-attack on Uber. It will include case chronology in detail. The response of the organisation towards the crime and the methods used for investigation it selected to deal with the
each will also be detailed. It will also be included highlighting related laws, conclusion and the suggestions for the company to prevent such attack in future.
Chronology for Incident
Sullivan who was the first CSO of Uber filed a testimony on Nov 4, 2016 for 2014
each case (ABC News, 2017). On Nov 14, 2016, he received an email from anonymous attackers that gained access of the database and gave threat that will exploit it (ABC News, 2017). When the Uber’s security team investigated the matter, they come to know that attackers used GitHub credentials and accessed S3 bucket with the database. Sullivan contacted then CEO Travis Kalanick on Nov 15, 2016 regarding the sensitivity of the matter (ABC News, 2017). Kalanick replied him in a bug format. There are enough text evidences supporting above.
On December 8, 2016 $100000 were authorised as a payment by Uber through HackerOne platform (ABC News, 2017). A non-disclosure agreement was also signed to keep the matter under the wraps. In January 2017, the security team identified the
eachers (ABC News, 2017). In April 19, 2017 on Uber’s request to FTC, commission regarding closing of investigation was approved for the first
each as they cooperate to the extent (ABC News, 2017).
The security team accepted the recommendations and implemented them. However, the letter does not disclose 2016 incident (ABC News, 2017). On June 21, 2017 Kalanick step down from his post and on August 29, 2017 Dara Khosrowshahi took as Uber’s new CEO (ABC News, 2017). On September 26, 2018, Uber agreed to pay a record $148 million penalty for concealing the
each.
Breachers and Their Intentions
Vasile Mereacre, a Canadian citizen living in Toronto, and Brandon Glover, a Florida resident, were behind the Uber security
eaching in 2016 (ABC News, 2017). It was a big loop, which was involved in this cybercrime. They took access to Amazon server, which was owned by Uber and it took the advantage of mistake done by an Uber engineer. He mistakenly left the credential in GitHub. Breachers downloaded files along with backup file and demanded money in six figures.
Technicalities of the Breach
Whenever a company is
eached in such a manner, it is the customer who gets most affected. In this case, even drivers were not spared. Their important credentials, driving license number and other useful information were compromised. Data
eaches are common news these days and leading organisations such as Amazon, Capital 1, Clearview AI and Deloitte have faced it (Ro
ins & Sechooler, 2018). On the other hand, sharing...