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Cyber Daily: Uber Punished for Unauthorized Drivers; Ohio's Cyber Corps; Ransomware at Nursing Homes
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Good day. It was a gray day in London for Uber. Transport for London, a regulator, revoked the company’s license, citing vulnerabilities in Uber’s app and passenger safety. Unauthorized drivers swapped their own photos with those of authorized drivers on Uber’s platform, allowing them to pick up riders themselves. Uber previously lost its London license in 2017, in part because of its use of an app that let it evade surveillance by local authorities.
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Also today: Ransomware comes to nursing homes and acute-care facilities; Ohio’s cyber reserves to help victims recover from cyberattacks; and questions surround the use of personal devices by government officials.
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The ride-sharing app can continue operating until an appeals process is concluded. PHOTO: WILL OLIVER/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Uber faces setback in London. The company lost its license to operate in London, one of its most important markets, after regulators found widespread instances of unauthorized drivers using the ride-hailing app to pick up customers.
Monday’s ruling shows how Uber—in a similar vein to other big tech companies—is now facing questions about its ability to police the behavior of others on its platform, the WSJ reports.
Transport for London, the city’s main transportation regulator, said it had found 14,000 instances in late 2018 and early 2019 in which unauthorized drivers swapped their own photos with those of authorized drivers on Uber’s platform.
In September, Uber said it was working on a security enhancement that would require drivers to look at their smartphone camera and blink, smile and turn their head to verify their identity. The company can continue to operate in the city through an appeals process that could take months.
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24%
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Percentage of 180 corporate board members who say that they are highly familiar with their company’s data breach response plan, according to a survey from professional services firm BDO USA LLP.
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Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, testifies before the House Intelligence Committee during impeachment hearings in Washington last week. PHOTO: TING SHEN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Impeachment hearings revealed government officials’ use of unsecured devices. Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) called for an investigation into the use by appointees of President Trump of personal cellphones to conduct national security work, NextGov reports. Officials, including Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, discussed sensitive matters on personal devices via text and voice communications.
Ransomware hits nursing homes. About 80,000 computers at 110 nursing homes and acute-care centers across the U.S. were affected in a ransomware attack on Virtual Care Provider Inc., which provides technology services to the facilities, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Hackers are demanding $14 million in bitcoin. The attack on Nov. 17 is attributed to Russian hackers by a cybersecurity researcher. Some facilities could close down, Virtual Care’s chief executive, Karen Christianson, told Krebs on Security.
Ohio to launch cybersecurity reserve force. The group, to start work in January, will help local governments, airports and other organizations recover from cyberattacks, Bloomberg reports. The force is viewed as a positive by investor service Moody’s Corp. Ohio plans to allocate $100,000 in fiscal 2020 and $550,000 the following year for the cyber reserves. Michigan operates a similar corps.
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