NetEase

In October 2015 a massive data breach involving the Chinese internet technology company NetEase was reported. The incident impacted approximately 234 million email subscribers of the 163.com and 126.com domains. The exposed data reportedly included email addresses and passwords stored in plain text or easily crackable formats. While NetEase initially denied the full extent of a breach the data appeared on various underground forums and was later confirmed by security researchers and breach notification services. The scale of the exposure remains one of the largest in history for a Chinese provider affecting a significant portion of the local internet population.