Chapter 427 - Caught By Surprise
The next morning, as people rose for another workday, they were bombarded by an alarming news that Jin Corporation, the number one company in the country had been hacked. Many were shocked because they always had the impression that Jin Corporation was invincible. It had always reigned at the top ever since Sir Lu Jianhong and the grandfather of CEO Jin Liwei successfully made it so.
However, there were those who already expected that Jin Corporation would be targeted after hearing yesterday that some of the other top companies were hacked. As the number one company in the country, Jin Corporation was actually more susceptible to cyber attacks than any other companies because it stored the most data from its hundreds of millions of clients. This alone was already a great temptation to many evildoers.
At the moment, all of the affected companies were in full damage control mode. Each of them held their own press conferences. It was an extremely busy day for the media, as they sent their journalists and reporters to attend all of these conferences.
The companies admitted that about 90-100% of their data were breached by the hacking incident yesterday. As soon as these figures were announced, their clients unsurprisingly went into uproar.
After giving a formal apology, the companies promised that they would do everything in their power to increase their system security so that something like this wouldn't happen again in the future.
Now that these companies were finished with their own press conferences, everyone was waiting for Jin Corporation's turn. Among the country's top companies, Jin Corporation had the most to lose in this hacking incident. There were many who were eagerly anticipating its downfall, so that they could finally have the chance to occupy its long-held throne of being the number one company in the country.
Alas, they were bound to be disappointed.
Instead of sending out a spokesperson like what most of the affected companies did, Jin Corporation actually sent out its own President-CEO Jin Liwei to speak directly to the media in the press conference. This sent out a powerful message that the company head wouldn't cower from facing this predicament head on.
As usual, Jin Liwei looked tall, handsome and extremely gorgeous in his immaculate custom-made tailored business suit. His expression was cold and serious. He wasted no time in providing the details about his company's state after the hacking incident.
"I regret to announce that 48% of our clients' data had been breached during last night's cyber-attack—"Gasps resounded all over the press conference hall. Even those watching the press conference's live broadcast and livestream were shocked upon hearing what he said.
Jin Liwei continued speaking in a grave tone. "48% is a huge number. I and everyone at Jin Corporation vehemently condemn last night's cyber-attack! We deeply apologize to our valued clients in not preventing and stopping this data breach in a timelier manner—"
"CEO Jin! Please repeat the percentage of Jin Corporation's data breach! We heard you say 48%, but is that figure really accurate? Isn't it supposed to be higher than that? The other companies reported 90-100%! Aren't you just downplaying the real number to appear better than the other companies also affected by the cyber-attack?" a reporter suddenly asked him.
Silence pervaded the press conference hall, as Jin Liwei's expression turned colder.
Jin Liwei was displeased that he was interrupted in the middle of speaking. It showed on his countenance, making him appear even more intimidating.
Although the reporter felt scared of Jin Liwei's aura, he didn't back down. It was his job as a reporter to ask these questions.
Fortunately, Jin Liwei didn't make it hard for the reporter and answered all of the questions.
"Yes, 48% is accurate. Not lower, not higher. And no, I'm not downplaying the real number. It is exactly 48%. Jin Corporation will release an official report soon, including the exact percentage of the data breach which I already mentioned to be 48%. We'll submit the report to the authorities for investigation and are willing to face any punishment if our figures are found to be inaccurate."
He looked at the reporter who asked him the questions. Of course, he didn't forget to throw shade at the reporter for interrupting him.
"In case you don't know, there is something called a Q&A session after this. Press conferences usually have that portion after the speaker finishes speaking without interruption. I would've gladly answered your questions then, but perhaps this is your first press conference so you aren't aware how things work."The reporter turned red after Jin Liwei directly spoke to him. This wasn't his first press conference at all. He had been a reporter for many years now, so of course he knew how things worked. It was just that most companies and organizations always wanted to present a good image to the press and the public, so they rarely scolded reporters like this. He had momentarily forgotten that Jin Corporation had strict press conference rules, especially when the main speaker was their cold and intimidating President-CEO Jin Liwei.
Afterwards, Jin Liwei continued speaking uninterrupted. He revealed that two of his employees—whose identities wouldn't be publicly revealed for security reasons—were able to stop the hacker from accessing the remaining 62% of data.
"Jin Corporation is very fortunate to have such valiant, loyal, and highly-skilled experts working for us. We aim to train more highly-skilled people like them and most importantly, to improve our current system so that something like this won't happen again in the future. Nevertheless, I still believe that 48% is too much. We ask our valued clients to cooperate with us in resecuring all of your information stored with our company."
Jin Liwei finished his speech and opened the floor for the Q&A session. He answered all of the questions in a clear and concise manner. He maintained his composure the entire time.
However, the last set of questions before the press conference ended completely caught him by surprise.He didn't expect to be asked such questions at a time and place like this.
"CEO Jin, when do you plan to introduce your fiancée to the public? Are you even planning on showing her to everyone or are you going to keep her out of the public eye? And also, when is the wedding?"