(ECNS) - Shanghai police are investigating a potential massive data breach involving leading Chinese hotel chain operator Huazhu Group Ltd.
The Changning Division of Shanghai Public Security Bureau said it received a report from the group on Aug. 28 claiming information related to customers of the group’s hotels were being sold on foreign websites.
The group also launched an internal self-examination.
A source at the Changning Division said police will strictly crackdown on the illegal acquisition, sale, exchange, and provision of personal information of citizens. Enterprises holding personal details on citizens are also urged to increase protection of such data.
It’s estimated the group, which has more than 10 hotel chains, had private information involving more than 130 million clients leaked.
Intelligence experts at Zpower, a company committed to fighting cybercrime, said the data could have been hacked 20 days ago when Huazhu programmers uploaded the information to GitHub, a service that allows engineers to collaborate on developing software coding.
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