![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-300x200.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
Uber investigating hack on its computer systems. The ride-hailing company said it was investigating after several internal communications and engineering systems had been compromised.
The New York Times first reported the breach after the hacker sent images of email, cloud storage and code repositories to the newspaper.
Uber staff were told not use the workplace messaging app Slack, the report said, quoting two employees.
Shortly before the Slack system was taken offline, Uber employees received a message that read: “I announce I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach.”
It appeared that the hacker was later able to gain access to other internal systems, posting an explicit photo on an internal information page for employees.
Uber said it was in touch with authorities about the breach. There has been no indication that Uber’s fleet of vehicles, its customers or payment data have been affected by the hack.
Uber pays a subscription fee to HackerOne, a bug bounty platform based in California.
Bug bounty programs are used by a lot of big businesses – essentially they pay ethical hackers to identify bugs.
Sam Curry, one of the bug bounty hunters, communicated with the Uber hacker. “It seems like they’ve compromised a lot of stuff,” he said.
Mr Curry said he spoke to several Uber employees, who said they were “Working to lock down everything internally” to restrict the hacker’s access.
He said there was no indication that the hacker had done any damage or was interested in anything more than publicity.
Chris Evans, chief hacking officer for HackerOne, told the BBC: “We’re in close contact with Uber’s security team, have locked their data down, and will continue to assist with their investigation.”
The BBC has seen messages from someone who claims that various Uber admin accounts are under their control.
The New York Times reports the hacker is 18 years old, has been working on his cyber-security skills for several years and hacked the Uber systems because “They had weak security”.
In the Slack message that announced the breach, the person also said Uber drivers should receive higher pay.
The saying goes in cyber-security that “Humans are the weakest link”, and once again this hack shows that it was an employee being fooled that let the criminals in.
Although the saying is true, it’s also extremely unkind.The fuller picture emerging here shows that this hacker was highly skilled and highly motivated.
As we saw with recent breaches of Okta, Microsoft and Twitter, young hackers with plenty of time on their hands and a devil-may-care attitude can persuade even the most careful employees into making cyber-security mistakes.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
