back to article Of course Uber allegedly had a tool to remotely destroy evidence

Uber is once again standing accused of shady behavior, this time allegedly developing mechanisms to rapidly shield documents and other files from the eyes of police. A report by Bloomberg today claimed the dial-a-ride broker built a tool called Ripley to remotely lock and remove potentially incriminating data from machines in …

  1. Naselus

    At this stage, I wouldn't be overly surprised to discover Uber were making a moonbase with a giant laser tbh.

  2. John H Woods

    "Last year, word leaked that Uber had been a tool"

    It didn't surprise us

  3. kain preacher

    I was wondering when EL reg was going to report this. I'd be more shocked if Uber did not have this

  4. Chris Miller

    "the same xenomorph-ass-kicking Ripley from the Alien movie series"

    Sounds more like The Talented Mr. Ripley to me.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Devil

      You wouldn't want to find yourself in the back of a cab driven by him...

  5. kain preacher

    Next I'm expecting to find out Uber had super secret cuber security division that made virus,male ware, Trojans and spy ware that was on par with state actors such as the US/Russia/Nk/china and Israel

    1. KBeee

      Male ware and Trojans conjures up a very disturbing image..

      But Uber is the very best of illustrations of what's wrong with cunt companis.

      1. kain preacher

        This is uber so of course they use male ware and trojans.

        Sorry for the typo

        1. Velv
          Pint

          Freudian slip? Trojans being male wear

          1. kain preacher

            Well Uber does screw people over with out lube

    2. KBeee

      Male ware and Trojans conjures up a very disturbing image..

      But Uber is the very best of illustrations of what's wrong with cunt companies.

  6. W Donelson

    The criminal founder is reflected in the structure and behaviour of his corporation, forever.

  7. ma1010
    Alert

    And that's why...

    Later, it was found that Uber had also used a custom piece of software dubbed Hell that sabotaged the rival Lyft service by sending its drivers fake pickup requests and tracking locations in order to poach customers.

    And that's why, on the occasions I need a ride-sharing service, I use Lyft. I recently turned down an Uber paid for by someone else in favor of a self-paid Lyft. Friends don't let friends use Uber. Their motto should be "Have you filled your evil quota today?" Just completely toxic. Every time I use Lyft, I vote against Uber with my wallet, and I hope others will, too.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: And that's why...

      I was using Lyft for a while, but their app has failed me so many times now that I've grudgingly gone back to using Uber on occasion, at least until Lyft fixes their damn bugs. If there's more evidence of new misdeeds, I will give up Uber again, but for now, I'm granting them the benefit of the doubt on account of the fact that their app actually does what it's supposed to.

      For those curious about the technical details, the Lyft app will regularly decide to truncate the first part of a given address such as the house number or whole street. In addition to rendering Lyft Line (the rideshare component) completely unusable, this has caused me to personally be delivered to unintended locations and to have Lyft try to route me to the center of the city instead of, say, the airport. Curiously, there is no ready mechanism in the Lyft app or on their Web site to file application bugs; even indicating that you've had an actual problem with the app is quite difficult.

      1. jonathan keith

        Re: And that's why...

        Jesus, what more do you need Uber to do before you stop using them? Kill grannies and kittens?

        1. notowenwilson

          Re: And that's why...

          "Jesus, what more do you need Uber to do before you stop using them?"

          Run out of VC money that is currently supporting low fares. Once the fares go up to sustainable levels things will change.

        2. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge

          Re: And that's why...

          It appears that the company is in turnaround mode, so I'm giving them a second chance.

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: And that's why...

        "I was using Lyft for a while, but their app has failed me so many times now that I've grudgingly gone back to using Uber on occasion, at least until Lyft fixes their damn bugs."

        Most towns and cities have many other options. Lyft and Uber are not a duopoly. I've used at least 4 local companies, all of which have app based booking.

        1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge

          Re: And that's why...

          I have been unimpressed with most of the alternatives, but perhaps there are some better choices that I'm overlooking.

  8. fidodogbreath

    Bros before LEOs

    "When it comes to government investigations, it's our policy to cooperate with all valid searches and requests for data."

    And of course, by "cooperate with" they mean "actively subvert."

    1. Mike Moyle

      Re: Bros before LEOs

      I was thinking: "For our definition of 'valid', of course!"

  9. redpawn

    Good competition for

    upstanding companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple. They will have to up their game to keep up.

  10. Horse Sense

    Is Uber an organised crime syndicate that is laundering money and using this taxi business thing as a front ? Just asking....

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Indeed. With all the effort they are putting in stifling competition and thwarting police, one has to wonder what Uber would be if it respected the law and put the effort into making a better product.

      Man, they just might have been awesome.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      No, that's the Surplus business that you're thinking of...

      "...an organised crime syndicate that is laundering money and using this taxi business thing as a front ?"

      Surplus store success method.

      1) Buy junk at Gov't auction

      2) Take it to the local landfill

      3) Write up a fake receipt

      4) Run illicit cash thru register

      Surplus? Or Laundry...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    shady behavior ?

    or Criminal behavior ?

  12. Morrie Wyatt
    Mushroom

    Equally apropos

    While the "Nuke it from orbit" reference was obvious, (see icon) there's also the older choice that fits nearly as well.

    Fire up Ripley and leave the jury to: "Believe it or not."

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My thoughts on this are that Uber must be the worst or most unlucky company in the world for getting caught out to be right bastards. It beggars belief.

  14. TonyJ

    Can you imagine...

    Law enforcement turn up:

    "Unlock your machine!"

    "I am trying but my password isn't working"

    "Oh you're refusing to hand over your login crypto keys*? Off to jail with you until you comply!!"

    "But honestly...that IS my password...."

    *Because lets face it - passwords, PINs, keys....all one and the same in the eyes of most police forces et al.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Once Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign is over

    He should be a special prosecutor looking into Uber's business practices. They could do with a good old fashioned FBI anal probing.

  16. handleoclast

    Claude Shannon sez

    Information content is related to unexpectedness.

    Uber doing something wrong is no longer news, it's just noise. Uber doing something legal would be news.

  17. phuzz Silver badge
    IT Angle

    Having a tool to remotely wipe company property isn't necessarily shady. If you're responsible for company equipment and data, you want some kind of system to wipe the CEO's phone when they leave it in a taxi after a hard night "entertaining clients", because you can assume that if there's a passcode they've probably written it down on the case.

    That said, I'm just going to go ahead and assume Uber were using it for shady purposes, because at this point it would be bigger news if they weren't.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sounds great

      Personally, I think that tool sounds great. If they could open source it, would make a lot of desktop and security ppl's jobs quite a bit easier...

      1. keithpeter Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: Sounds great

        "Personally, I think that tool sounds great. If they could open source it, would make a lot of desktop and security ppl's jobs quite a bit easier..."

        My agreement with your sentiment is cancelled out by my reaction to your use of 'ppl', hence no up-vote.

        Coat: personally one hails taxis unless attending a social event in which case 'carriages at Midnight' is the rule.

  18. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Meanwhile

    There are still actual taxis and hire cars. Although sometimes feuds between cabmen get rough too. Apparently, prank calling your competitor for fake rides or silent calls is common. Conversely, I have called for a car, drawn breath before speaking, and they hung up on me.

    As for Uber, do you think that perhaps an organised system of prostitution, drug dealing, and demanding money with menaces is operated from their address to disguise the fact that they're also responsible for the Uber car thing? After all, people -like- drug dealers.

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