Uber denies it was hacked

Uber insisted it had not been hacked following the discovery that log-in information for thousands of the car-sharing service's users is widely available on the online black market.

Motherboard confirmed last week that several dark Web forums — hidden from the regular internet using the online anonymity software Tor — were selling working log-ins for Uber for as little as $1.

Uber denies the information was taken from its own servers, however.

“We investigated and found no evidence of a breach,” the company said in a statement. “Attempting to fraudulently access or sell accounts is illegal and we notified the authorities about this report.”

An Uber log-in can not only be used to rack up fraudulent trips, but would also give access to the user’s travel history, exposing home addresses. An account also contains partial credit card information.

Uber said the log-ins might have been lifted by either breaking weak passwords, or by trying passwords exposed in other data breaches.

“This is a good opportunity to remind people to use strong and unique usernames and passwords, and to avoid reusing the same credentials across multiple sites and services,” Uber said.

The company’s data security has made headlines in recent months. In late February, it came out that the personal information of up to 50,000 drivers had been compromised during a May 2014 breach.

The 2014 hack is not related to the current rash of Uber log-ins for sale, the company said.