Alibaba intercepts 2.2b cyber attacks during Singles' Day shopping spree

The security department of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Wednesday announced the interception of 2.2 billion network attacks in 24 hours during the Singles' Day online shopping spree.

The hostile attacks included network traffic attacks, hacker attacks and unfair scalping.

More than 3,000 security specialists and 1,258 algorithm models worked 24 hours straight on Singles' Day fighting against the attacks, according to the company.

Jessie Zheng, chief risk officer responsible for data and information security across Alibaba's platforms, said the company has made efforts to prevent and control risks not only by identifying counterfeit goods and malicious complaints but identifying abnormal transactions.

The e-commerce giant launched the annual online shopping promotion on Nov. 11, 2009, a day celebrated by many Chinese young people as Single's Day. The date was chosen because 11-11 resembles four "bare sticks," a Chinese term for bachelor.