Uber ‘Ignored’ Security Flaw in Its Two-Factor Authentication: Report

Ride-hailing app Uber has reportedly ignored a security flaw — discovered by a New Delhi-based security researcher — that can allow an attacker to hack into user accounts via bypassing its two-factor authentication feature. “Two-factor authentication is a vital part of protecting online accounts that adds a second layer of security on top of your username and password — which can be stolen — by sending a code by text message to your phone which only you would have access to,” reports emerged late on Sunday.

“That two-factor code can be bypassed, making the second layer of security protection effectively useless,” security researcher Karan Saini was quoted as saying upon the newly found bug.

The security bug works by exploiting a weakness in how the app authenticates a user when they log in to the platform, thereby letting the user log in to an account and easily defeat the two-factor prompt, without entering the correct code.

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Uber reportedly said the security bug “is not a particularly severe” issue. “This isn’t a particularly severe report and is likely expected behaviour,” Rob Fletcher, Security Engineering Manager at Uber, said in his correspondence with Saini about the bug report.

Uber began testing two-factor authentication on its systems in 2015 but the company has yet to widely push the security feature to its users.

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