The article discusses the discovery of malware in Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce company, that allowed it to access users' personal data without their consent. The malware was found by researchers who discovered a series of unusual permissions requests in the app's code.
According to experts, the malware would have given Pinduoduo access to users' locations, contacts, calendars, notifications, and photo albums without their knowledge or consent. The exploits also allowed the app to change system settings and access social network accounts and chats.
The discovery of the malware has raised concerns about the lack of oversight by regulators in China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is responsible for regulating apps in China, but it failed to detect the malware before it was discovered by researchers.
Experts have questioned why regulators haven't taken action against Pinduoduo, given the severity of the issue. One cybersecurity expert with 1.8 million followers on Weibo wrote a viral post last week criticizing regulators for their lack of understanding of coding and programming.
The article also notes that Pinduoduo's growth in user base has been rapid, despite regulatory clampdowns on Big Tech companies in China. The company has been able to maintain its growth thanks to the Chinese government's support for domestic tech companies.
In response to the discovery, Pinduoduo issued an update to its app that removed the malware, but experts are warning that the underlying code could still be used to carry out attacks if it is reactivated.
Overall, the article highlights the need for greater oversight and regulation of Chinese tech companies, particularly those operating in the e-commerce space. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of regulators in detecting and preventing malware and other security threats.
According to experts, the malware would have given Pinduoduo access to users' locations, contacts, calendars, notifications, and photo albums without their knowledge or consent. The exploits also allowed the app to change system settings and access social network accounts and chats.
The discovery of the malware has raised concerns about the lack of oversight by regulators in China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is responsible for regulating apps in China, but it failed to detect the malware before it was discovered by researchers.
Experts have questioned why regulators haven't taken action against Pinduoduo, given the severity of the issue. One cybersecurity expert with 1.8 million followers on Weibo wrote a viral post last week criticizing regulators for their lack of understanding of coding and programming.
The article also notes that Pinduoduo's growth in user base has been rapid, despite regulatory clampdowns on Big Tech companies in China. The company has been able to maintain its growth thanks to the Chinese government's support for domestic tech companies.
In response to the discovery, Pinduoduo issued an update to its app that removed the malware, but experts are warning that the underlying code could still be used to carry out attacks if it is reactivated.
Overall, the article highlights the need for greater oversight and regulation of Chinese tech companies, particularly those operating in the e-commerce space. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of regulators in detecting and preventing malware and other security threats.
. 1.8 million followers can't be wrong, right? 
the fact that regulators failed to catch this is a major red flag. what's next, malware in WeChat or something?! 
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. I mean, I'm not saying the regulators are completely useless, but it seems like they need to step up their game big time 
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. We thought we were so connected and safe online. Now, it's just a mess. The lack of oversight is just staggering 
. I hope they take action soon before someone gets hurt... or worse 
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. Pinduoduo's rapid growth is actually a cause for concern. With so many users, it's like a big target for hackers... I mean, malware developers 
. That's not right. We need more oversight, not less. And if we don't get it together, who knows what other secrets these apps are hiding? 
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It's like they're not even trying to protect users' info anymore. And yeah, China's support for domestic tech companies is great and all, but at what cost? We should be focusing on keeping people safe online, not just letting companies grow without any strings attached 
and ppl are still using it?! I mean, I love Pinduoduo btw 
they're like my fave Chinese brand ever 
but this is just crazy! How did this even happen?! The devs must've been blind 
like, what's going on?! Can't they see what's happening?! This is all about China's growing tech companies and how they need more oversight 
the fact that regulators failed to detect this before is just another example of how lax they are 
deserves all the claps 
for speaking truth to power 
but at the same time, i feel bad for pinduoduo's users who were unknowingly compromised 
can't wait to see what other measures are taken to prevent this from happening again 
what kind of regulations are they supposed to be following if they can't even keep their own malware from spreading? 
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The fact that Pinduoduo's growth hasn't slowed down despite all these issues is pretty crazy - did the Chinese government really give them a free pass? 
pinduoduo should've been shut down months ago for this kind of thing. it's not just a few isolated incidents, it's systemic issues with the whole regulatory system in china. 
! China's tech giants are literally getting away with murder 
, and it's a total disaster 
! The people deserve better than to have their personal data exploited by these companies without consent 
#MalwareMonday #ChineseTech #RegulationFail
but at least pinduoduo is being proactive about fixing the issue and updating their app - that's a step in the right direction, right? 
i mean, we all know chinese regulators have been pretty lax on tech companies, but maybe now they'll take it more seriously? 
they should've caught this one months ago, but nope, it slipped through the cracks. and now experts are all like "we need more regulation" 
but seriously, what's being done to ensure these companies are held accountable? I'm not surprised by the regulatory clampdowns on Big Tech but this is a whole different level 
. regulators need to step up their game, yes, but shldnt we also give these companies a chance 2 correct themselves? 
. I mean, who needs user consent when you can just access their personal data without permission 
. Anyway, gotta give props to the cybersecurity expert who spoke out – at least someone is speaking truth to power 
. But seriously, this is a huge deal and needs to be addressed ASAP 
. I mean, Pinduoduo has 1.8 BILLION users on their app and they still manage to sneak in malware without anyone noticing? That's a huge red flag!