Alibaba calls for int'l co-op against hacking
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The head of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said Tuesday the company hoped to avoid "finger-pointing" and that international cooperation would prevent further hacking attacks on the company's website.
Servers of Alibaba's foreign wholesale marketplace, Aliexpress, in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and in the United States were hacked constantly on April 16 and 17.
Wei Zhe, chief executive officer of Alibaba, told Xinhua, "We don't want to see finger-pointing. One country alone cannot win the fight against hacking and we hope the international community can work together."
The company's server in the U.S. was also hacked, and the company had reported it to the U.S. police, Wei said.
Aliexpress, which had been in a trial phase since Aug. 6, 2009, would officially start operations later this month, said Wei, without giving an exact date.
As the website hosted the sale of Chinese goods in bulk to American buyers, many suspected the hackers might support Alibaba's U.S. rivals.
Sun Chonghui, an analyst with Shanghai-based iResearch Consulting Group, told Xinhua the hackers might have something be aligned with protectionist interests in the U.S. as the website was due to enter the American market.
But, Sun said, "There is a chance that the hackers just wanted to show off their ability by hacking big name companies like Alibaba."
Alibaba public relations officer Wu Hao said Monday that clients' information was not disclosed or stolen.
Alibaba Group is an online business company, engaging in business-to-business international trade and retail sales. It was founded in 1999.
