8 punished over fabricating online data leakage
Four people have been detained by police and eight others punished after they were found guilty of fabricating a massive leak of online personal data by hackers over the past month in China, the country's Internet watchdog announced Tuesday.
China's leading anti-virus software provider, Beijing-based Qihoo 360, claimed in late December that the personal information of more than 6 million users of the China Software Developer Network (CSDN), the country's largest programmers' website, had been leaked by hackers. That raised concerns about web security and triggered widespread panic.
The company said the leak included user IDs, passwords and e-mail addresses in clear text. The hacking case later escalated after the personal details of subscribers to more websites, including popular online shopping, gaming, social networking and even financial institution sites, were said to have been leaked.
