The article discusses the discovery of malware in Pinduoduo's shopping app, which allows the app to access users' locations, contacts, calendars, notifications, and photo albums without their consent. The malware was discovered by a cybersecurity firm called Dark Navy in late February, and further analysis confirmed its presence.
The article highlights several issues with Pinduoduo's handling of the situation:
1. **Lack of oversight**: Despite being subject to China's data privacy legislation, which prohibits exploiting internet-related security vulnerabilities or engaging in actions that endanger cybersecurity, Pinduoduo was not detected by regulators.
2. **Failure to report**: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China have not taken any action against Pinduoduo despite the discovery of the malware.
3. **Censorship of criticism**: A cybersecurity expert who questioned why regulators had not taken action was censored on social media for his comments.
The article also notes that:
1. **Pinduoduo removed the malware**: After being discovered, Pinduoduo issued a new update to its app that removed the malware.
2. **Only 20 cybersecurity engineers remain**: A core group of about 20 cybersecurity engineers who specialize in finding and exploiting vulnerabilities remained at Pinduoduo after the team that developed the malware was disbanded.
The article concludes by highlighting the concerns around regulatory failure and the lack of oversight in China's tech industry, particularly when it comes to data privacy and security.
The article highlights several issues with Pinduoduo's handling of the situation:
1. **Lack of oversight**: Despite being subject to China's data privacy legislation, which prohibits exploiting internet-related security vulnerabilities or engaging in actions that endanger cybersecurity, Pinduoduo was not detected by regulators.
2. **Failure to report**: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Cyberspace Administration of China have not taken any action against Pinduoduo despite the discovery of the malware.
3. **Censorship of criticism**: A cybersecurity expert who questioned why regulators had not taken action was censored on social media for his comments.
The article also notes that:
1. **Pinduoduo removed the malware**: After being discovered, Pinduoduo issued a new update to its app that removed the malware.
2. **Only 20 cybersecurity engineers remain**: A core group of about 20 cybersecurity engineers who specialize in finding and exploiting vulnerabilities remained at Pinduoduo after the team that developed the malware was disbanded.
The article concludes by highlighting the concerns around regulatory failure and the lack of oversight in China's tech industry, particularly when it comes to data privacy and security.
this whole thing is a big reminder that we gotta stay vigilant about our online presence 
, 'cause those apps we use every day can be sneaky little devils 
. i mean, think about it - just because the government says something's okay doesn't make it automatically right 
. and what's even crazier is that Pinduoduo was basically left to its own devices 
, with no real consequences for their mistake.
. it's up to each of us to look out for ourselves online 
, and to demand better from the companies we do business with 
. after all, our personal info is basically worth more than gold 
, so let's make sure we're not letting anyone take advantage of us 
.
. How can we trust a company that lets malware run wild?"
. And don't even get me started on how regulators failed to do their job 
. It's like, China's data privacy law is supposed to be there for a reason, but apparently it's just a suggestion 
. The whole thing feels like a huge oversight 
.
. And what really grinds my gears is that no one seems to care about data privacy in China 
. I get that regulatory bodies have their own issues, but come on, 20 engineers is a tiny team! How can you expect them to detect all this stuff? 
. It's like they're just letting this stuff slide because nobody's really doing anything about it.
I mean, what's next? Are we going to let our personal data be exploited for the sake of some companies' profits? 
It's like they're playing with fire and not even wearing a condom! 
And to make matters worse, the cybersecurity expert who spoke out got censored online. That's just ridiculous. The lack of oversight in China's tech industry is a huge concern and it's something that needs to be addressed ASAP. 
! China's got some serious work to do when it comes to protecting user data. 20 cybersecurity engineers who knew about this stuff still working for them? That's a joke 
and now pinduoduo is trying to act all innocent by removing the malware from their app 
still the fact that 20 engineers were let go who knew what else are they hiding in their code 
also why did the expert get censored for speaking up about this its like china is really good at covering up problems 
. And what's up with the censorship on social media? Like, we should be able to talk about this stuff freely 
.