Even though the headline says "security analyst" and "bombshell," we're not talking about the Uber hack that the company covered up for a year.
Instead, it's a bombshell of a letter from former Uber Security Analyst Richard Jacobs that suddenly made its way into the civil trial where Waymo is suing Uber over an intellectual property dispute.
"I can no longer trust the words of the lawyers for Uber in this case," said Judge William Alsup. He delayed the trial because of the multi-page letter that spelled out some shocking allegations.
Allegations made by Jacobs against Uber include:
- Uber offered training on how employees could "impede, obstruct or influence" legal investigations
- Uber used some non-attributable devices, to avoid them being traced back to the company, when doing competitive research
- Uber allegedly encouraged internal communications via an encrypted app that auto destroyed the messages
- The company's Marketplace Analytics team existed "expressly for the purpose of acquiring trade secrets, code-based and competitive intelligence”
In a twist you'd have to see on a TV show to believe, the former security analyst who made these allegations to Uber after he was let go, walked back some of the allegations in court this week.
He is currently being paid a more than $4 million severance by Uber and is doing consulting work for the company.
One thing the judge made clear: Uber knew about this letter and its allegations and should have turned it over during discovery. According to an article in the San Franciso Chronicle, the judge had this to say:
"We're going to have to put the trial off. If even half of what's in that letter is true, it would be a huge injustice to force Waymo to go to trial and not be able to prove the things said in that letter."
