Uber‘s former security chief has been convicted of failing to report an attack on the company’s databases to US authorities in 2016 by hackers.
A San Francisco jury found Joe Sullivan — who was fired by Uber in 2017 — guilty of obstruction of justice and concealing a felony.
More and more, companies negotiate with “ransomware” hackers.
But investigators said companies should “do the right thing” when their systems are breached.
The conviction is a dramatic reversal for Sullivan, who at one point in his career had prosecuted cyber-related crimes for the US attorney’s office in San Francisco.
After Sullivan’s sentencing, his attorney, David Angeli, said, “Mr. “Sullivan, in this incident and throughout his illustrious career, has been ensuring the safety of people’s personal data online”.
But prosecutors said the case is a warning to all companies.
“We expect these companies to protect that data and alert customers and appropriate authorities when data like this is stolen by hackers,” said US Attorney Stephanie M Hinds.