Former Uber security chief found guilty of concealing data breach

• Joseph Sullivan was found guilty of criminal obstruction for neglecting to report a 2016 cybersecurity incident.
• Uber paid $148 million to settle accusations by all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that it disclosed the hacking too slowly.
• Sullivan was also accused of suppressing information from Uber officials who could have reported the hack to the FTC.

The DOJ revealed Wednesday that a San Francisco jury found former Uber security chief Joseph Sullivan guilty of criminal obstruction for neglecting to report a 2016 cybersecurity incident.

Sullivan, who Uber sacked in 2017, was found guilty of obstruction of justice and concealment of a felony.

“Sullivan affirmatively worked to hide the data breach from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and took steps to prevent the hackers from being caught,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Stephanie Hinds.

The complaint involves a data breach at Uber that compromised the information of 57 million passengers and drivers. The corporation waited a year before disclosing the issue.

As part of a settlement with U.S. authorities to avoid criminal charges, Uber took responsibility for hiding the breach and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of Sullivan for his alleged role in concealing the hacking in July.

David Angeli, Sullivan’s attorney, and the Federal Trade Commission did not immediately respond to the media’s request for comment.

Sullivan was indicted for the first time in September 2020. At the time, according to prosecutors, he arranged to pay the hackers $100,000 in bitcoin and had them sign nondisclosure agreements that falsely said they had not taken any data.

Sullivan was also accused of suppressing information from Uber officials who could have reported the hack to the FTC, which was investigating the San Francisco company’s data security after a 2014 incident.

In September 2018, Uber paid $148 million to settle accusations by all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that it disclosed the hacking too slowly.

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