Data breach has become an increasingly serious cause of concern in the corporate world with even heavyweights like Sony and Microsoft, among others, falling victim to cyber heists of one type or the other. Careem is the latest corporate entity to have joined the long list of victims of large-scale cyber attacks with potentially serious consequences.
Careem, the ride-sharing platform has acknowledged that cybercriminals managed to breach its security and get away with personal data of up to 14 million of its customers in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan.
The breach happened on January 14, the company admitted, while adding that so far there is no evidence of any foul play or misuse of the stolen data.
Careem issued a statement addressing its customers saying “It is our responsibility to be open and honest with you, and to reaffirm our commitment to protecting your privacy and data. We also want to share with you the actions we are taking to address the issue and to prevent it from happening in the future,”
The company also reassured its users that it launched an investigation as soon as the breach was detected. Additionally, it also claims to have engaged leading cybersecurity experts to mitigate any loophole in its cyber defense.
Careem added, “Throughout the incident, our priority has been to protect the data and privacy of our customers and captains. Since discovering the issue, we have worked to understand what happened, who was affected, and what we needed to do to strengthen our network defenses.”