Report: Uber Hacked by Teenager, Employees Thought It Was a Joke

Ridesharing giant Uber says that is investigating a “cybersecurity incident” after a hacker claiming to be just 18 years old stated that they have administrator access to company tools.

The Verge reports that Uber claims to be investigating a “cybersecurity incident” following reports that the company’s internal systems have been breached. The alleged hacker claims to be 18 years old and says that they have access to company tools including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. The New York Times reports that Uber has taken multiple internal systems offline, including Slack.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

An Uber spokesperson said that the company declined to answer additional questions and pointed to its public statement on Twitter: “We are currently responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available,” the statement said.

Colton Seal, the CEO and co-founder of Routefusion, tweeted a screenshot of what appears to be Uber’s internal Slack chat where the hacker announced themself to employees.

Many employees were reportedly so shocked by the message from the hacker that they assumed it was a joke. Employee responses ranged from lighthearted emoji reactions to an “it’s happening” GIF. One unnamed employee stated that staff were interacting with the hacker thinking it was a joke.

The hacker told the Washington Post that they breached Uber for fun and are currently considering leaking the company’s source code. They also told cybersecurity researcher Corben Leo that they gained access to Uber’s systems through login credentials obtained from an employee using social engineering.

“This is a total compromise, from what it looks like,” Curry told the NYT. “It seems like maybe they’re this kid who got into Uber and doesn’t know what to do with it, and is having the time of his life.”