China calls out Alibaba executives as part of their investigation regarding the largest data theft, which leaked information of around one billion Chinese residents.
(Photo : Photo credit should read ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)
A logo of the Chinese multinational e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology conglomerate, Alibaba group, is pictured on a window of a stand during the Vivatec trade fair (Viva Technology), on May 24, 2018, in Paris.
People familiar with the matter said that government officials required Alibaba Cloud Vice President Chen Xuesong, the new leader of the retailer's digital public-security business, as well as other top executives.
As of writing, Chen hasn't released any statement. On the other hand, the Shanghai government also decided to stay quiet regarding their upcoming meetings.
China Calls Out Alibaba Execs Over Largest Data Theft
According to The Wall Street Journal's latest report, the latest investigation being conducted by Chinese officials involves checking the leaked cache from the country's police databases.
(Photo : Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)
A man walks past the logo of Alibaba (China) technology Co., Lth on August 12, 2005 in Beijing, China. Yahoo Inc. signed a deal to buy 40 percent of Alibaba.com for EUS 1 billion cash while handing over the running of its China operations to the Chinese online retailer in the biggest investment by a foreign company to gain access to China's 100 million net users.
Also Read: Alibaba Faces Record $2.75 Billion Fine for Alleged Monopoly Practices
During the last weeks of June, authorities discovered that the stolen data was being offered for around $200,000. After that, cybersecurity experts found out that the database was actually handled by Alibaba's dashboard management tool.
They added that the data was leaked because the retailer's online tool had no passwords for a year. Because of this, hackers were able to complete their massive data heist easily.
On July 1, Alibaba senior managers decided to conduct a virtual meeting after an anonymous seller published an advertisement containing the stolen data; a sample of the leaked database was even included.
After discovering this alarming activity, Alibaba engineers were forced to deactivate their breached systems temporarily. As of press time, the exact reason behind the massive data breach is still unknown.
The 1 Billion Database Theft
TechCrunch recently reported that the massive data theft in China was acquired from a police database. Most of the user information leaked came from mainland China.
This is alarming since mainland China is the country's area where there are extreme internet access restrictions. The alleged seller claimed they acquired the massive database from Alibaba, which aligns with the latest findings of Chinese officials.
But, the hacking method used is still unclear. If you are among the concerned residents, the best thing you can do is to wait for the government's further announcements.
In March 2021, Pinduoduo replaced Alibaba as China's top shopping site.
In November 2021, the Alibaba NFT platform forced owners to hold their non-fungible tokens for six months before transferring them to another user.
For more news updates about Alibaba and China's ongoing data theft investigation, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
