Kul Bhushan · · 1 min readAlibaba stocks tumble after reported probe over massive data hack
Alibaba’s shares dropped 5.7% after The Wall Street Journal reported that executives from the company’s cloud unit were questioned by the authorities in China over the theft of personal data of citizens, according to Reuters.
This comes after a hacker who goes by the alias “ChinaDan” recently claimed to have accessed the data of over 1 billion Chinese citizens from the Shanghai police.
The leaked database reportedly contains sensitive information such as names, addresses, birthplaces, national ID numbers, and phone numbers.
Reuters said that the Chinese authorities haven’t yet confirmed the breach. However, the news has already spread online and became a trending topic on local social media platform Weibo.
The development comes as local authorities tighten their grip on Chinese tech companies, especially over their user data security practices.
Apart from the regulatory challenges, Alibaba is working to fix its finances through measures like downsizing. The company is reportedly planning to lay off 30% of its internal investment team, affecting mid-level and senior staff based in mainland China.
See also: Alibaba’s financial health in 5 charts
Editing by Miguel Cordon
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