Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/22/2020
By: Stacy Hsu and Chiang Yi-ching

Washington, Sept. 21 (CNA) There is a possibility that China is using information from a massive database of influential figures to identify individuals and institutions in Taiwan that could be exploited, according to American researcher Christopher Balding.

The database, which was compiled by the China-based tech firm Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co., purportedly contains the personal information of some 2.4 million politicians, academics and military officials around the world.

Since a Zhenhua Data employee leaked the database to Balding in 2019, the American researcher has been working with the cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0 to recover and analyze the information, Balding said last week, when he released his findings for the first time to several media outlets internationally.

So far, Balding and the Australia-based firm have recovered 10 percent of the data, which includes the personal information of 52,000 Americans, 35,000 Australians and nearly 10,000 British citizens, according to a report on Voice of America.    [FULL  STORY]