Bleeping Computer: Uber suffers new data breach after attack on vendor, info leaked online. “Uber has suffered a new data breach after a threat actor leaked employee email addresses, corporate reports, and IT asset information stolen from a third-party vendor in a cybersecurity incident.”
Washington Post: Amazon, Uber ads appear on Twitter pages of white nationalists restored by Musk. “Ads for more than three dozen brands including major corporations appeared on the Twitter pages of white nationalist accounts in recent days after Twitter owner Elon Musk restored hordes of banned users to the social media platform.”
CNET: Uber Investigating Computer System Breach. “Uber’s computer network was breached on Thursday, leading the ride-hailing giant to take several internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated the hack, The New York Times reported.”
Axios: Scoop: Microsoft, Uber leaving Internet Association. “Microsoft and Uber are leaving the Internet Association (IA), a trade group that lobbies on behalf of internet companies and the tech industry, Axios has confirmed. Why it matters: Losing Microsoft and Uber, two major members, is a blow for the group. The association has seen steadily waning influence in D.C. in recent years, partly because it does not work on the competition and antitrust issues that beset the industry right now.”
CNET: Uber will offer free Rosetta Stone to ride-hail and delivery drivers . “The drivers will have free access to all 24 languages Rosetta Stone offers, directly from the Uber Driver app. The partnership will be available to drivers and delivery people who have achieved gold, platinum or diamond status through the Uber Pro program in more than three dozen countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the UK and US. Uber also worked with Rosetta Stone to develop some language education focused on interactions drivers often have with their riders.”
The Grio: Maskless woman who attacked Uber driver arrested, 2nd woman to turn herself in. “Malaysia King, one of the women caught on camera during an attack on a San Francisco Uber driver has been arrested while her friend, Arna Kimiai, plans to surrender to police for her role in the disturbing assault. In the days since their March 7 encounter with Uber driver Subkahar Khadka, King and Kimiai had been wanted by San Francisco police for assault and robbery. In video of the incident, Kimiai is seen hitting the driver and is also believed to have sprayed him with pepper spray after he ended the trip when she refused to wear a mask.”
Toronto Star: Uber, Lyft team up on database to expose abusive drivers. “Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years. The clearinghouse unveiled Thursday will initially list drivers expelled by the ride-hailing rivals in the U.S. But it will also be open to other companies that deploy workers to perform services such as delivering groceries or take-out orders from restaurants.”
CNN: The pandemic boosted food delivery companies. Soon they may face a reality check. “At the start of 2020, it looked like the food delivery sector was about to face a reckoning after years of raising and losing billions of dollars. One of the original food delivery businesses, Grubhub, was considering putting itself up for sale after losing its foothold on the market. Its competitors, DoorDash, Postmates, and Uber Eats, had also reportedly been in talks about mergers. Meanwhile, Uber’s CEO signaled a fundamental shift for its meal delivery service: focusing on profitable growth. Then the pandemic changed everything.”
New York Times: Former Uber Security Chief Charged With Concealing Hack. “Uber’s former security chief was charged on Thursday with attempting to conceal from federal investigators a hack that exposed the email addresses and phone numbers of 57 million drivers and passengers.”
BBC: Coronavirus: Uber customer activity falls sharply. “The number of customers active on Uber’s apps has dropped nearly in half since last year as the pandemic devastates demand for the company’s taxi services. The ride-hailing giant said it had an average of 55 million customers each month in the April-June period, down from 99 million last year.”
Reuters: Levandowski gets 18 months in prison for stealing Google files. “A U.S. judge on Tuesday sentenced former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski to 18 months in prison for stealing a trade secret from Google related to self-driving cars months before becoming the head of Uber Technologies Inc’s (UBER.N) rival unit.”
San Diego Union-Tribune: A COVID-19 death renews questions of Uber and Lyft’s responsibility to drivers. “The pandemic has dramatically raised the stakes in the years-long fight over what protections Lyft, Uber and other gig-economy companies should be required to provide workers. Adding to longstanding wage and benefit gripes, [Billie Sue] Matchke’s fate is now the nightmare scenario facing rideshare drivers everywhere. Some have recently gone beyond just wearing masks and wiping down door handles to also installing makeshift partitions in their vehicles to shield themselves from potentially infected customers. Advocates have argued that drivers shouldn’t be forced to risk death just to make ends meet, and have blasted Uber and Lyft for making it nearly impossible for drivers to collect state unemployment pay.”
The Next Web: Uber introduces AI to make sure its drivers wear face masks. “Uber is making face masks mandatory — and will use AI to ensure drivers follow the rules. From Monday, every time drivers go online they’ll have to take a selfie, which a computer vision algorithm will scan to check if they’re wearing a mask.”
CNN: Exclusive: Uber will soon require drivers and riders to wear face coverings in the US. “As it anticipates a restart to its core rideshare business amid the pandemic, Uber (UBER) plans to require drivers and riders to wear face masks or face coverings when using the platform in certain countries, including the United States, CNN Business has learned.”
New York Times: This Pandemic Exposes the Downsides of Cheap Uber Rides. “Many of us have benefited from the convenience of services like Uber and Instacart. But now in an economic and health crisis, their workers are highly vulnerable, and no one has their backs. Here’s how this happened, and who is to blame. Short version: Blame everyone, including ourselves.”
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