Technology
PUBLISHED
A Russian taxi company that manages more than 700,000 drivers across Russia was hacked last week, causing a huge number of cabs in Moscow to be routed to the exact same location. When the taxis arrived, there were no passengers waiting there, just blocked streets and utter chaos from the angry drivers and police attempting to diffuse the situation.
Watch for yourself as lines of cabs queue in the streets, waiting for their ghost passengers.
Yandex.Taxi, the affected company that operates in a similar manner to Uber, released a statement to Russian media sources explaining they were subject to an “attempt by attackers to disrupt the service” on September 1, but that their security protocols were able to promptly stop congestion of cars – though we aren’t sure if the videos circulated the web would agree.
Several dozen drivers were impacted, receiving multiple orders to the same spot in Moscow. Around 40 minutes of congestion ensued as drivers caught on to what had happened, and the company has now said there will be compensation for the revenue drivers will have lost in the incident.
According to Yandex, the issue has now been resolved and their improved algorithm will prevent such incidents from happening again.
2
