Data leaks have become so frequent all of a sudden, and with China’s name stuck everywhere, it’s difficult to say what the future of Chinese companies will be. Recently, a report said that there was a massive Zhenhua Data leak. In this leak, the personal details of millions of users were exposed and were stolen by a Chinese tech company. The leak also had the data of politicians and members of the royal family.
Details about the leak
The leak suggests that a Chinese tech company has gathered the data of millions of users from around the world. There were also some details about the data being linked back to the Chinese military. There were approximately 2.4 million users data in the database that also included influential people.
Internet 2.0 cybersecurity firm reported that it could recover the data of 250,000 from the total leaked database. These included the data of 52,000 Americans, 35,000 Australians, and nearly 10,000 Britons. This recovered information also had the data of prime ministers, royal families, and other important personnel. So, the leak was not only limited to normal individuals.
The American academic Christopher balding reported that the data was leaked to him. Balding said that the database was built using “technically complex using very advanced language, targeting, and classification tools.” He also added, “From politics to organized crime or technology and academia just to name a few, and the database flows from sectors the Chinese state and linked enterprises are known to target.”
The company’s response
The company said that information about the leak wasn’t true at all. “Our data are all public data on the internet. We do not collect data. This is just data integration. Our business model and partners are our trade secrets. There is no database of 2 million people,” said one of the company’s representatives. The company also denied having any relation with the Chinese government.
According to the reports by Balding, the database was built in a way that can be used to mass influence the public. What are your thoughts on the Zhenhua data leak and Chinese relations with the same? Do let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content interesting and informative, do like and share it with your friends.
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