• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The rise of 'conspicuous waiting': The 19th-century economic theory that explains why Gen Z posts their place in line

2

Millennials say they’ll refuse to care for aging boomer parents—but they’ll be forced to as their inheritance shrinks to 40 cents on the dollar

3

Tim Cook signed off on his final Apple earnings call with a warning about a ‘100-year flood’ in memory chip pricing

1

The rise of 'conspicuous waiting': The 19th-century economic theory that explains why Gen Z posts their place in line

2

Millennials say they’ll refuse to care for aging boomer parents—but they’ll be forced to as their inheritance shrinks to 40 cents on the dollar

3

Tim Cook signed off on his final Apple earnings call with a warning about a ‘100-year flood’ in memory chip pricing
TechLyft

Did Lyft CTO Chris Lambert hack Uber? Let’s have the evidence

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 10, 2015, 3:49 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Imagine the temptation.

You’re leading the technology group at a fledgling car-sharing service. Your biggest competitor is valued at 24 times as much as your company. You feel like you’re falling behind.

Worse, that rival is a bully. It has relentlessly recruited your drivers. It has slowed your entrance into new markets with cutthroat tactics—including, allegedly, repeatedly ordering and canceling rides.

And then: A godsend. Your arch-nemesis has unwittingly published the private encryption key for an important database that contains the personal information of its drivers—on the code-sharing site GitHub. It has committed, as Dan Goodin, security editor at Ars Technica describes, “the online equivalent of stashing a house key under a doormat.”

Do you ignore it? Play the good samaritan and notify the company? Or do you strike, unlocking its secrets?

Around the same time that Uber and Lyft—the ride-sharing services referenced above—were fighting one another for supremacy in spring 2014, a hacker breached the former’s database and downloaded as many 50,000 of its drivers’ names and license numbers. Two Reuters sources say Chris Lambert, chief technology officer at Lyft, is associated with the cyber intrusion.

Lambert has yet to publicly confirm or deny the accusation, although a Lyft spokesperson told Reuters that the company investigated the matter “long ago” and concluded that “there is no evidence that any Lyft employee…had anything to do with Uber’s May 2014 data breach.” In the meantime, Uber is prodding Comcast (CMCSA) to divulge the IP address associated with the incident in hope that it could help reveal the identity of the perpetrator.

The culprit did not gain access to the driver data, as far as anyone knows, by sending spear-phishing emails to people at the company, as the hackers who breached Samsung-owned (SSNLF) LoopPay likely did. Nor did he or she break in by using unauthorized credentials, as is alleged in the recent lawsuit between the Tribune Co. and journalist Matthew Keys. Uber, quite simply, didn’t secure a path to its proprietary information—and an intruder used it to gain entry.

Fortune previously wrote about Uber’s newfound hacking prowess. It seems only fair to consider the possibility that Lyft has chops, too. We cannot say for certain who is responsible for the deed; there is no proof one way or the other. (So far.) But it’s not difficult to find a plausible motive in this narrative. Here’s hoping that evidence emerges to clear the air.

Which brings me to a public service announcement in celebration of National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Please avoid posting your private encryption key in the public domain. You never know who will come a-knocking.

A version of this post originally appeared in Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily tech-business newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

A creator sells shoes on a livestream auction.
RetailGen Z
‘People can go from zero to 100’: How Gen Z is raking in $260,000 per month on a livestream auction app
By Joshua HongAugust 1, 2026
40 minutes ago
LinkedIn adds a ‘seems like AI slop’ button after blocking billions of automated comment attempts in the last few months
CybersecurityLinkedIn
LinkedIn adds a ‘seems like AI slop’ button after blocking billions of automated comment attempts in the last few months
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 31, 2026
9 hours ago
Y Combinator‑backed AI startup is under fire after its founder offered instant interviews to partygoers who got company tattoos, then apologized
Startups & VentureTech
Y Combinator‑backed AI startup is under fire after its founder offered instant interviews to partygoers who got company tattoos, then apologized
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 31, 2026
11 hours ago
Studio portrait of Leopold Aschenbrenner
Startups & VentureHedge Funds
The power couple of AI is getting married in Carmel, days after groom Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund nearly blew up
By Eva RoytburgJuly 31, 2026
11 hours ago
European nations have won more than half of all World Cups. Now they’re threatening to boycott the next one
Startups & VentureSports
European nations have won more than half of all World Cups. Now they’re threatening to boycott the next one
By Catherina GioinoJuly 31, 2026
11 hours ago
var
AIWorld Cup
The World Cup’s VAR fights are a preview of every company’s AI rollout problem
By Pooya Tabesh and The ConversationJuly 31, 2026
15 hours ago

Most Popular

The rise of 'conspicuous waiting': The 19th-century economic theory that explains why Gen Z posts their place in line
Retail
The rise of 'conspicuous waiting': The 19th-century economic theory that explains why Gen Z posts their place in line
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 31, 2026
1 day ago
Millennials say they’ll refuse to care for aging boomer parents—but they’ll be forced to as their inheritance shrinks to 40 cents on the dollar
Personal Finance
Millennials say they’ll refuse to care for aging boomer parents—but they’ll be forced to as their inheritance shrinks to 40 cents on the dollar
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 31, 2026
1 day ago
Tim Cook signed off on his final Apple earnings call with a warning about a ‘100-year flood’ in memory chip pricing
Big Tech
Tim Cook signed off on his final Apple earnings call with a warning about a ‘100-year flood’ in memory chip pricing
By Alexei OreskovicJuly 30, 2026
1 day ago
He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead
Success
He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead
By Preston ForeJuly 29, 2026
3 days ago
Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline
Retail
Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline
By Sydney LakeJuly 29, 2026
3 days ago
This Dutch bookseller thought a request for 3,000 copies was 'spam or phishing.' Instead, AI companies are scanning and destroying books to train AI
AI
This Dutch bookseller thought a request for 3,000 copies was 'spam or phishing.' Instead, AI companies are scanning and destroying books to train AI
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 31, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.