Former Uber Security Chief Found Guilty of Paying Off Hacker

Former Uber Chief Security Officer, Joe Sullivan, was found guilty of charges related to paying off a hacker to conceal a massive data breach in 2016. The breach exposed the personal information of millions of Uber users and drivers. Sullivan pleaded not guilty, but a federal jury in San Francisco convicted him on charges of obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony.

The breach occurred in 2016, and Uber tried to cover it up by paying the hackers $100,000 to delete the stolen data and keep quiet about the incident. Sullivan, who was the chief security officer at the time, allegedly played a significant role in covering up the breach, which was not disclosed until 2017.

The trial revealed that Sullivan had tried to hide the breach from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had been investigating Uber's previous data breach in 2014. The FTC later imposed a $148 million fine on Uber for failing to disclose the 2016 data breach and for not implementing adequate security measures.

Sullivan faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the obstruction of justice charge and three years for the misprision of a felony charge. The sentence is scheduled to be handed down in July.

Uber released a statement saying they were glad the case was resolved and that they had made significant changes in their leadership and culture since the breach. The company has been working to regain the trust of its customers and to implement more robust security measures to prevent future data breaches.