There are a lot of leaks around in the tech world. Dropbox had its hack, YouTube had its hack, Apple had its hack, and Uber had its hack. But sometimes these leaks can get much worse. Hackers can run their machines into little holes in a computer’s firmware. They can install viruses and backdoor programs into the computer which get inside its software on the internal network.
If a hacker exploits this hardware hacker can tap the network to get onto the network and mess up Uber’s communication systems, e.g. a trip route can suddenly be changed. Or they can take control of the car and order it around while it is moving.
These hackers are inside Uber and Lyft cars right now, compromising the data of their drivers.
It has been known since last month that there was a vulnerability in Lyft’s system and there are already reports of hacks on Uber drivers.
The question is, how long it takes for hackers to exploit these flaws and get inside the software of these two companies? Uber and Lyft have a window of about 30 to 60 days to notify their drivers about this information security breach. If an employee sits on the security breach report until they are hired, they can’t be fired until 30 days later.
With many other security breaches in the news, this is a timely reminder of how important it is to take responsibility for your company’s software and act quickly to keep your company’s customers safe.