![]() “The goal was to reduce the risk of being exposed,” they said.īy collecting expansive data on user activities, the company was able to create a comprehensive portrait of users’ habits, interests and preferences, according to the source. It was in 2020, according to a current Pinduoduo employee, that the company set up a team of about 100 engineers and product managers to dig for vulnerabilities in Android phones, develop ways to exploit them - and turn that into profit.Īccording to the source, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, the company only targeted users in rural areas and smaller towns initially, while avoiding users in megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai. He stepped down as CEO in 2020 and resigned as chairman the following year. By the middle of 2020, though, the increase in monthly users had slowed to around 50% and would continue to decline, according to its earnings reports.Ĭolin Huang, a former Google employee, founded Pinduoduo in 2015 in Shanghai. Pinduoduo posted triple digit growth in monthly users until the end of 2018, the year it listed in New York. It succeeded by offering steep discounts on friends-and-family group buying orders and focusing on lower-income rural areas. (EBAY), wasn’t always an online shopping behemoth.įounded in 2015 in Shanghai by Colin Huang, a former Google employee, the startup was fighting to establish itself in a market long dominated by e-commerce stalwarts Alibaba Pinduoduo, which boasts a user base that accounts for three quarters of China’s online population and a market value three times that of eBay Pinduoduo has previously rejected “the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious.”ĬNN has contacted PDD multiple times over email and phone for comment, but has not received a response. The findings follow Google’s suspension of Pinduoduo from its Play Store in March, citing malware identified in versions of the app.Īn ensuing report from Bloomberg said a Russian cybersecurity firm had also identified potential malware in the app. ![]() Pinduoduo's parent company PDD is listed on the Nasdaq in New York. But as Beijing enjoys significant leverage over businesses under its jurisdiction, there are concerns from US lawmakers that any company operating in China could be forced to cooperate with a broad range of security activities. There is no evidence that Pinduoduo has handed data to the Chinese government. While Temu has not been implicated, Pinduoduo’s alleged actions risk casting a shadow over its sister app’s global expansion. ![]() Both are owned by Nasdaq-listed PDD, a multinational company with roots in China. The revelations are also likely to draw more attention to Pinduoduo’s international sister app, Temu, which is topping US download charts and fast expanding in other Western markets. Some American lawmakers are pushing for a national ban on the popular short-video app, whose CEO Shou Chew was grilled by Congress for five hours last week about its relations with the Chinese government. Malware, short for malicious software, refers to any software developed to steal data or interfere with computer systems and mobile devices.Įvidence of sophisticated malware in the Pinduoduo app comes amid intense scrutiny of Chinese-developed apps like TikTok over concerns about data security. This is highly unusual, and it is pretty damning for Pinduoduo. “This is highly unusual, and it is pretty damning for Pinduoduo.” “We haven’t seen a mainstream app like this trying to escalate their privileges to gain access to things that they’re not supposed to gain access to,” said Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at WithSecure, a Finnish cybersecurity firm. Company insiders said the exploits were utilized to spy on users and competitors, allegedly to boost sales. Multiple experts identified the presence of malware on the Pinduoduo app that exploited vulnerabilities in Android operating systems. ![]() In a detailed investigation, CNN spoke to half a dozen cybersecurity teams from Asia, Europe and the United States - as well as multiple former and current Pinduoduo employees - after receiving a tipoff. While many apps collect vast troves of user data, sometimes without explicit consent, experts say e-commerce giant Pinduoduo has taken violations of privacy and data security to the next level. It is one of China’s most popular shopping apps, selling clothing, groceries and just about everything else under the sun to more than 750 million users a month.īut according to cybersecurity researchers, it can also bypass users’ cell phone security to monitor activities on other apps, check notifications, read private messages and change settings.Īnd once installed, it’s tough to remove. ![]()
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