Hundreds of thousands of Australian Uber riders and thousands of local Uber drivers have been caught up in the breach that the ride-sharing company concealed for more than a year.

It comes as The New York Times reported on Wednesday afternoon that not only did Uber conceal the breach, but it paid the hackers off to keep them quiet and disguised the payment as a reward.

"The company tracked down the hackers and pushed them to sign non-disclosure agreements, according to the people familiar with the matter," the Times reported.

"To further conceal the damage, Uber executives also made it appear as if the payout had been part of a 'bug bounty' — a common practice among technology companies in which they pay hackers attack their software to test for soft spots," it added.