Police in the eastern Chinese city of Shaoxing have uncovered a huge data theft incident in which a group of companies stole millions of pieces of user data from 96 technology companies, Caixin reports.
The hackers conducted the theft through a company called Ruizhi Huasheng Technology—ostensibly an online advertising company that was listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange.
When Ruizhi Huasheng became a developer for China’s three major mobile carriers—China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom—the company placed malicious software on the carriers’ networks that stole user data from several of China’s largest platforms, including Tencent’s WeChat and Alibaba’s Taobao.
Police officers in Shaoxing became aware of the problem in June after internet users reported contacts being added to their accounts without permission, according to Caixin.