In 2016, hackers stole data relating to 57 million Uber users and drivers and demanded payment. Uber paid $100,000 through its bug-bounty program. The response led to a landmark federal prosecution of a security executive for handling a data breach. Daniel Garrie served as the government’s digital-forensics expert.

Using the public record and the Ninth Circuit’s 2025 opinion, Garrie reconstructs the incident as an evidence timeline: what the attackers accessed, how the payment was characterized, which records existed or were missing, and why response decisions became evidence of obstruction and concealment. He then introduces a “Bounty-or-Breach” framework for triaging extortion presented as vulnerability disclosure.

Attendees leave with five controls: escalation triggers, preservation requirements, payment gates, notification checkpoints, and a defensible handoff among security, legal, and executives. No vendor pitch; no legal background required.