Momo

Momo ended 2018 on a mixed note. In the good column: revenue jumped 51 percent in the third quarter of the year and net income rose nearly 8 percent year-over-year. In the bad column: news broke that 30 million Momo users may have been affected by a data leak.

If there was any doubt then which column would win in the end, it’s long gone now. Momo is back on its feet and recently scored the coveted number one spot on Fortune’s 2019 list of Fastest-Growing Companies in the world. It’s the Chinese dating app’s first appearance on the annual top 100 list.

Chinese dating app Tantan, which was recently removed from the Chinese app stores, is on the rise in India. The popular app has gained traction among singles and is now the fifth most popular dating app in the country.

“India is one of the fastest growing internet markets in the world, hence it’s very important to be present and win in the Indian market,” Tantan told Quartz. “After doing a soft launch in India, we learned more about the market and users which helped us in serving the market better.”

Tantan, the popular dating app often referred to as China’s Tinder, was recently removed from the Chinese app store in an effort by the government to “clean up content in cyberspace,” according to ZDNet.

There were no specifics given as to why the app was removed, but the company issued a statement saying that it is complying with the government’s requirements. The app was removed from both the Apple and Android stores in China.

Momo, Tantan’s parent company, also issued a statement saying it was "proactively communicating with the relevant government authorities" and will "fully cooperate" to restore the app's availability "as soon as possible," according to Yahoo! Finance. Shares of the company tumbled after the app’s removal.

Tantan, one of the highest grossing dating apps in the world in the first quarter of 2019, has been removed from Android app stores by order of governmental authorities in China due to a violation of policies. The popular dating app was often referred to as “China’s Tinder” and had been acquired by Momo in May 2018.

The details of the ban are unclear. The official statement from Tantan did not reveal the specific nature of the violations. The company merely said it would cooperate fully with authorities and promised to "conduct a comprehensive internal review of the content in the Tantan mobile app and undertake other measures necessary to stay in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”

As internet usage grows, so does the number of devastating data breaches that expose sensitive personal information. The online dating industry is no stranger to hacks hoping to exploit the extensive amount of personal data users share in their profiles, with services like FriendFinder Networks, Ashley Madison, Mate1 and Plenty of Fish falling victim to high profile attacks.

The latest company to join that list is Momo, one of China’s most popular dating apps. Data from 30 million users of the app is reportedly for sale on the Chinese dark web for just CNY 200 (approximately $30 USD).

In a post published on Sina Weibo on December 3, user @lxghost1989 shared a series screenshots entitled “database of 30 million Momo users” with a comment saying, “Momo’s database is quite cheap.” The data for sale includes phone numbers and passwords, and was supposedly obtained on July 17, 2015 via a method known as credential stuffing. This technique uses stolen account credentials - typically username and password pairs - to fraudulently gain access to other accounts that use the same login credentials. Individuals who use identical usernames and passwords across multiple accounts are highly vulnerable to this kind of attack.

Dating app Momo, China’s answer to Tinder, has been a popular dating app among the country’s singles with a record 75 million users. But in recent weeks, Momo seems to be expanding out of the dating business and into something more lucrative.

For its latest update, Momo executives decided to supplement the app's location-based dating service that matches people through swiping and messaging. Now, the app offers a live-streaming function, catering to music lovers and even musicians themselves. The update allows users to watch their favorite musicians perform live, as well as giving them the ability to interact with the musicians.