HC1041: IT for Business - Uber Data Breach Impact Analysis Report

This report examines the impact of Information Technology (IT) on modern businesses, using Uber as a case study. It analyzes Uber's 2016 data breach, detailing how hackers accessed user data and the consequences. The report explores why IT is crucial for Uber's operations, including enhancing efficiency, communication, and security. It identifies the requirements for IT applications, the current ways Uber uses IT, and the benefits such as automation and improved customer relationships. Furthermore, it highlights the risks posed by IT, particularly data breaches and security vulnerabilities. The report also discusses how Uber maintains and monitors its IT systems to mitigate future risks. Overall, the analysis emphasizes the importance of robust IT strategies and security measures for business survival and success in the digital age, drawing on academic references to support its claims. This report is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand the practical application of IT in a real-world business context.

Running Head: IT FOR BUSINESS
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IT Impact on Business
Uber data breach analysis
(Student Details: )
1/11/2020

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Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................2
IT Impact on Business............................................................................................................2
Uber data breach incident..................................................................................................2
Why Uber need IT...............................................................................................................2
IT is important for Uber’s business survival....................................................................3
Requirements for IT applications in Uber........................................................................3
The way Uber’ business use IT presently........................................................................3
Benefits of IT for Uber.........................................................................................................3
Risks posed by IT for Uber................................................................................................4
The way Uber maintain and monitor IT............................................................................4
Conclusion................................................................................................................................4
References...............................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
This research paper is focused on exploring the role of Information Technology (IT)
for modern businesses. In general, IT drives constructive innovation in the area of
business all across the world. It is well-aware that innovation is the path to success
in business scenarios. Innovation with IT has a similar effect that steam had on the
industrial revolution. In this context, identifying the role of technology for business
development is necessary because IT has several positive impacts on business
operations. Hence, this paper is going to analyse the data breach case of the well-
known international ride-share transport firm Uber. As mentioned in (Hern, 2018),
Uber Company got fined for a data breach of £385,000 as the breach affected
millions of passengers (Hern, 2018). The main culprit of the data breach incident was
that the transport firm concealed the data breach from 3.7 million drivers as well as
35 million users. If the firm would have told these people that the data has been
hacked then they could have taken preventive measures already (Australian
Government, 2018).
IT Impact on Business
Uber data breach incident
According to (Hern, 2018), during November 2016, hackers cracked the security of
Uber and hence acquired credentials for accessing Uber’s cloud servers. In this way,
these attackers downloaded 16 big files which were containing the personal records
of more than 35 million users all across the world. In this context, the breached as
well as downloaded data included Uber’s passengers’ names, email IDs, phone
numbers as well as the location from where they had signed up on Uber application
(Fortune, 2018). Thus, due to this data breach incident, both the drivers and riders
were affected as the hackers have accessed 3.7 million drivers’ license numbers and
other details (Lee, 2017).
Why Uber need IT
It is a well aware fact that every business needs IT for its survival and further growth.
In this way, IT is needed by the chosen business of Uber at a very large level
because of the following reasons:
 Enhanced efficiency of operations: in the context of Uber, IT is needed for
efficient operations as it helps to understand the cash flow needs while
preserving precious resources like physical space and time. For example,
warehouse inventory technologies allow Uber owners to understand how to
manage the storage costs of holding products in the best possible way
(Bitran, 2016).
 Communication with riders, drivers, and clients: for Uber, IT is essential
as it enables effective communication between the company and its
customers. Apart from this, IT always affects the ability to communicate with
the riders and other people in the context of Uber thus the chosen business
definitely needs IT largely (Fortune, 2018).
 To evolve corporate culture and class relations: as we know, IT is needed
to create a team-dynamics in a business-like Uber as employees at several

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sites can have better interactions with the help of IT advancements (Bogle,
2018).
 Security: Uber need IT for addressing the vandalism as well as security
threats. Based on the data breach incident in 2016, security has become an
essential area to be addressed and take care of. Hence, the Uber Company
should tighten its security practices and use enhanced measures of data
security and data breach prevention tactics (Elliott, 2015). Apart from this, IT
can also be utilised for protecting financial data, proprietary information and
confidential executive decisions which leads to modern competitive benefits.
For example, by protecting computers with passwords, businesses like Uber
can always that none of their upcoming projects will be copied by competitors
or other firms (Khosrowshahi, 2017).
 Research capacity: Uber also need IT because of some reasons related to
research and development. In this context, a business always owns the
technological capacity for further researching opportunities thus IT helps Uber
to stay a step ahead of the competition in the global transport industry
(Blystone, 2018).
IT is important for Uber’s business survival
Based on opinions given by IT experts, Uber needs IT in order to sustain competitive
superiority. It has been found that Uber’s business is not sustainable because its
investors are clearly willing to fund Uber’s rivals who are competing away all the
profit in the transport industry. Uber’s competitors are Lyft, Ola cabs, DiDi, Taxify and
many more. Apart from buying Lyft, Uber can use IT advancements and
technological innovation for a sustainable business future (Wong , 2017).
Requirements for IT applications in Uber
IT use and implementation needs to address some basic challenges in this era. For
example, basic requirements for applying IT into Uber’s business are adequate
training, installation, equipment, designing, planning, and investment. Uber will
require additional funds and investments for the implementation of IT-based
advancements and upgrades (Vacca, 2012). Moreover, IT application and security
enhancement in the case of Uber requires detailed planning of the whole procedure.
After the planning part, Uber will need designing and equipment techniques as well
as resources so that installation can be done. Most importantly, Uber will need
skilled labour and experts to handle as well as manage IT applications. In this way,
the chosen company will require to provide training to their employees, staff and
people so that they can use IT gadgets and applications in an effective manner (Lee,
2017).
The way Uber’ business use IT presently
Currently, Uber is using IT and ICT for different purposes such as sending
information, storing information and retrieving information. IT also assists the
business in the form of hardware and application software. At Uber, there is a huge
impact of IT on business as Uber’s application is driven with information technologies
only. The customer of Uber as the rider can book the cab for themselves with the IT
app. Irrespective of the size of the business, Uber is leveraging both the tangible as
well as intangible benefits of IT use (Picanso, 2010). Thus, IT is helping Uber to
make money and thereby produce the desired outcomes their customers demand. In
addition to that, Uber is using IT applications for improved corporate culture,

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customer relationships, business operations’ efficiency in the context of current
business. Moreover, Uber is using IT for ensuring the security of confidential
information and thereby trace potential benefits (Laurell & Sandstorm, 2016).
Benefits of IT for Uber
In this context, IT brings several potential benefits to the chosen business of Uber in
terms of security, confidentiality, reliability, automated business, remote working,
mobile technologies, information protection, customer satisfaction, resource
management, and open sourcing. Here, IT has provided several advantages to Uber
with rising innovations (Liu et al., 2018). Uber has drastically transformed the living
standards of global people with the help of IT use. Apart from this, IT allowed the
chosen business to analyse data and thereby plan business strategies as per the
analysis. IT offered a huge benefit of optimized profit to the company with the help of
detailed and illustrated data analysis. It has been found that IT has given a benefit of
increased automation of Uber’s business processes. Moreover, Uber has been
benefitted by IT use as IT has improved efficiency while increasing overall workflow
effectively. Therefore, IT has a benefit of automated business processes while used
by Uber (Taschler, 2015). In this way, the benefits of IT for the current business of
Uber can be summarized as fast billing, collecting customer data, tracking metrics
and monitoring business processes in an automated manner.
Risks posed by IT for Uber
The discussion has talked about the data breach incident of Uber based on recent
news mentioned in the article written by (Hern, 2018), which depicts that IT has both
brighter and darker sides for any business. In the context of Uber’s transport
business, IT has numerous benefits whereas some serious risks are also there. The
best example of a risk posed by IT for the business of Uber is the data breach. It is
because data breach happened because Uber was using cloud servers to store the
data of their business operations. Here, the personal data of Uber’s drivers and
riders were available on cloud servers of Uber Company which allowed hackers to
crack the data security of Uber and steal them (Vacca, 2012). In this way, the
biggest risk posed by IT for Uber’s business is data violation and breach. Some other
risks caused by IT for Uber’s business include technology dependence, reliability,
system crash, upgrade requirements, a huge competition, security breach and poor
confidentiality (Elliott, 2015).
The way Uber maintain and monitor IT
After facing on-field incidents Uber has started maintaining as well as monitoring its
IT systems so that they will not face any same issue in the future. For example, Uber
uses a driver monitoring system for monitoring its software system which is a
modern digital trend as well. In addition to that, Uber is using GPS systems with
smartphones in order to monitor their drivers’ behaviours in an effective manner.
Based on an in-depth analysis in this paper, it is recommended that Uber can use
camera system into their cabs for monitoring daily business operations. On the other
hand, for monitoring data security applications and platforms, Uber should use daily
tracking devices and means to track any suspicious activity into their IT systems both
in hardware and software. Furthermore, through monitoring cab’s speed and Uber
software application’s activities, Uber can better implement advanced IT systems for
the enhancement of their future business (Taschler, 2015). This research has found

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that Uber can easily monitor and maintain their IT systems into the following possible
ways:
 Server monitoring systems
 Safety monitoring systems
 IT infrastructure tracking and monitoring systems
Conclusion
In this way, this paper has contained data breach analysis of Uber from the
perspective of IT impact on modern business. The role of IT in any business has
been described and explored with the help of discussing the benefits and risks IT
brings to Uber’s transport business. The detailed analysis of recent news about Uber
data breach suggests that such a breach can always be prevented or its effects can
be mitigated in an effective manner. For this, the business should use adequate
information security measures to protect the data of their business operations. in this
way, IT has both positive and negative impacts on a business depending upon how
firms use IT systems and services into their daily business operations.

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References
Australian Government, 2018. Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. [Online] Available
at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/notifiable-data-breaches-scheme
[Accessed 16 October 2018].
Bitran, A.D., 2016. The Uber Innovations That Lyfted Our Standards out of Thin Air
[BnB], because Now, There's an App for That. Elon L. Rev., 8, p.503.
Blystone, D., 2018. The Story of Uber. [Online] Available at:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/111015/story-uber.asp.
Bogle, , 2018. Data breaches: If a company has lost your personal info, they now
have to tell you. [Online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-02-
22/-companies-must-inform-consumers-of-data-breaches/9462170 [Accessed 16
October 2018].
Elliott, R.E., 2015. Sharing App or Regulation Hackney: Defining Uber Technologies,
Inc. J. Corp. L., 41, p.727.
Fortune, 2018. Uber Data Breach Exposed Personal Information of 20 Million Users.
[Online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2018/04/12/uber-data-breach-security/
[Accessed 27 May 2019].
Hern, A., 2018. Uber fined £385,000 for data breach affecting millions of passengers.
[Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/27/uber-
fined-385000-for-data-breach-affecting-millions-of-passengers-hacked [Accessed
2020].
Khosrowshahi, , 2017. 2016 Data Security Incident. [Online] Available at:
https://www.uber.com/newsroom/2016-data-incident/ [Accessed 16 October 2018].
Laurell, C. & Sandstorm, C., 2016. Analysing Uber in social media—disruptive
technology or institutional disruption? International Journal of Innovation
Management, 20(5), p.1640013.
Lee, D., 2017. Uber concealed huge data breach. [Online] Available at:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-42075306 [Accessed 17 October
2018].
Liu, L., Han, M., Wang, Y. & Zhou, Y., 2018. Understanding data breach: a
visualization aspect. International Conference on Wireless Algorithms systems and
applications, pp.883-92.
Picanso, K.E., 2010. Protecting information security under a uniform data breach
notification law. Fordham L., (Rev.), p.355.

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Taschler, E., 2015. A crumbling monopoly: the rise of Uber and the Taxi Industry’s
struggle to survive. Chicago: Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, pp.1-8.
Vacca, J., 2012. Computer and information security handbook. London: Newnes.
Wong , J.C., 2017. Uber concealed massive hack that exposed data of 57m users
and drivers. [Online] Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/21/uber-data-hack-cyber-attack
[Accessed 16 October 2018].