As many as 72 servers, which are based in India, are allegedly sending data of Indian users to China and at the center of this are cloud data servers of Chinese technology group, Alibaba, top intelligence sources have said.
According to the officials, Alibaba’s cloud data servers are widely popular among businesses because they offer services at a far cheaper rate than European servers.
However, they are seemingly responsible for “data stealing” from India, and have been allegedly found to be sending over data to China, a claim, the e-commerce giant has denied.
According to sources, almost 72 data servers operated by Alibaba in India have been identified as sending data of Indian users to China.
This is allegedly a systematic plan that has been organized by Chinese authorities, and works by flaunting the value proposition to businesses. Intelligence sources further said that these data servers seemingly offer free trial usage periods to organizations in a bid to trap them in.
Intelligence officials have said that a “massive probe” is expected to begin on China’s intended cyber espionage, soon.
Meanwhile, the Alibaba Group said that its customers have the sole discretion regarding transfer of their data.
“We continue to be committed to complying with local laws everywhere we operate. Similar to any other cloud service provider, customers that utilize our cloud services have the sole discretion to encrypt, store and/or transfer their data across any data center facilities globally, including outside of India,” a spokesperson from Alibaba Cloud said.
“Contractually, we don’t have rights to access, view or move customers’ data without their specific instruction and approval,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company will “investigate and take appropriate actions” if it becomes aware that a customer is conducting illegal activities utilizing its Cloud services.