The ride-hailing App, Careem is booming around all across Pakistan, even with the notable challengers like Uber and Gaari around. It will be pertinent to mention here that the Dubai-based ride-hailing App has even outsmarted the worldwide established Uber in many areas of Pakistan. But what if there’s some official news today which would surely jolt every of the loyal Careem customer, at least for once. Yes, it is about the ‘Careem Hacking Issue’ which happened early January this year. What’s more shocking to it is information of 14 million users/customers got compromised during that security break.
The Careem customer would thoroughly be disturbed with this appalling incident but at least one need to have positive words for this ride-hailing App as it officially has come forward to accept the mighty trouble at their end. As per the official words, during this security breach the name, number, address, and E-mail Id information might be raked by the hackers.
The question which might be setting hundreds of thousand Careem customers would be if this incident got happened on January 14, why it took so long for Careem authorities to officially have words on it as this long delay would have given full fledge opportunity to the hackers to misuse the information, the way they would have wanted. Pakistan’s one of the favourite ride-hailing App have tried to got answer to each and every query of their costumer, not so sure how satisfying it actually would be?
1. What exactly happened?
On January 14th of this year, we identified a cyber incident involving unauthorised access to a system we use to store data.
Our team immediately investigated this, working with an external cybersecurity firm to put in place measures to protect our customers and captains, and to ensure that our service and your lives were not disrupted.
As online criminals’ methods and tactics continue to evolve and become ever more sophisticated, it is our duty to meet these threats. We are increasing our online security efforts to ensure that we can continue to empower people across the region, especially the millions of captains and customers who depend on Careem to earn a living and get around.
2. What customer account data was stolen?
Customers’ name, email address, phone number and trip data.
3. Are my credit card details and passwords safe?
There is no evidence that your password or credit card number have been compromised. Customers’ credit card information is kept on an external third-party PCI-compliant server. A PCI server uses highly secure protocols and is employed by international banks around the globe to protect financial information.
4. Why has it taken Careem so long to tell people?
Cybercrime investigations are immensely complicated and take time. We wanted to make sure we had the most accurate information before notifying people. Since discovering the issue, we have worked to understand what happened, who was affected, and what we needed to do to strengthen our network defences. Specifically, we have introduced enhanced monitoring capabilities across our infrastructure that allows us to detect and respond quickly to security threats. While we feel our response has been robust, we are also implementing a further programme of updates to further develop our security capabilities over coming months.
5. So what action do I need to take?
Alongside the work we are doing to further strengthen our security systems, customers can follow these steps to safeguard their own personal information:
- Implement good password management by updating your Careem password, as well as other accounts on which you use similar details. Use a strong mix of characters, and try not to use the same password for multiple sites.
- Remain cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for personal information or refer to a web page asking for personal information
- Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unfamiliar emails
- Continue to review bank account and credit card statements for suspicious activity – if you see anything unexpected, call your bank
6. What has Careem done to protect my data?
We take the protection of our customers and captains’ data very seriously. We have a team of leading cybersecurity experts who have been working with external security firms to constantly monitor our systems, build and enhance our security fences, and react immediately to potential threats. In addition, we are working with law enforcement agencies.
