TaskRabbit, IKEA’s Handyman-for-Rent Service, Discloses Cybersecurity Incident
TaskRabbit shut down its website and app, asking customers to change their passwords while investigating a cybersecurity incident on Monday.
Photo:
Richard B. Levine / Zuma Press
Updated April 16, 2018 8:40 PM ET
TaskRabbit, an online marketplace for freelance workers owned by Swedish furniture chain IKEA, announced that it had been attacked by cyber criminals.
On Monday, the San Francisco company deleted its website and app, urging customers to change their passwords as it was investigating a “cybersecurity incident”. The company said it was working with a cybersecurity firm but did not disclose what happened, how many people may have been affected, or how it learned about the breach.
The company said it had notified customers and “taskers,” those offering their services and being reviewed by the company, and said it would reschedule any unfinished tasks and compensate workers for the tasks that were done on Monday due to the disruption could not be completed.
A company representative did not respond to a request for additional information on Monday afternoon.
A representative from IKEA Group said the company was aware of unauthorized access to TaskRabbit’s website but said that IKEA’s website, which operates independently, was not affected.
Founded in 2008, TaskRabbit became an early pioneer of what is known as the gig economy, connecting people with freelancers willing to run errands and do odd jobs for a fee.
IKEA bought the company last year.
TaskRabbit’s business premise is simple: a person selects a task from a list of tasks and sends a request such as cleaning up a yard, organizing a closet, or delivering a package across town. The company then compares this request with a “tasker”. TaskRabbit withholds a 30% service fee. A 7.5% Trust & Safety fee is added to the total.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
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