PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Cyber Security Association of Pennsylvania issued a recommendation for Uber users, after the popular ride-share app announced its computer systems had been hacked.
Uber announced it is investigating a wide-reaching security breach that was started when an employee answered a text message from a person impersonating IT support with their user credentials.
Shortly before Uber's Slack (a communications app) system was taken offline, Uber employees received a message that read, "I announce I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach."
Due to the ability of the cybercriminal to browse multiple aspects of the Uber systems, the Pa. Cyber Security Association is advising all users to log into Uber and update their passwords.
For those who are using one password on multiple platforms, it has been advised those passwords are updated as well.
At this time Uber has not acknowledged if their payment systems, user accounts, or passwords were also breached, but it is possible. Uber likely has strong encryption practices in place to protect payment information and passwords, but even encrypted data poses a risk of being decrypted.
The Pa. Cyber Security Association said users should be aware of text messages and emails coming from Uber and other apps.
Over the next couple of weeks, customers of Uber have been advised to watch their credit cards and any other accounts that used the same password for unusual activity.
The organization is also reminding the public to never share passwords.
