(Yicai) Dec. 23 -- Kuaishou Technology’s shares tumbled after hackers flooded several of the Chinese short-video platform’s livestream channels with obscene and other illicit content, prompting concern about the website’s security.

Kuaishou [HKG: 1024] closed down 3.5 percent at HKD64.35 (USD8) per share in Hong Kong today, pulling up from an earlier drop of as much as 6 percent. The stock has gained 56 percent since the end of last year.

The attack started around 10 p.m. yesterday, when multiple Kuaishou livestream channels broadcast pornographic content for over an hour. Kuaishou later said that it had been targeted by hackers and had launched an emergency response by shutting its livestream services. They began to return to normal around 2 a.m. today.

Kuaishou strongly condemns online criminal activities and has reported the incident to the police and relevant authorities, the Beijing-based firm said today, adding that it will take appropriate legal action if needed to protect the rights and interests of the company and its shareholders.

The scale of the incident reflects a shift to “automated attacks,” while platforms such as Kuaishou still rely too heavily on manual defence systems, Wang Liejun, an expert at cybersecurity firm Qi An Xin Technology Group, posted on social media today.

Wang said attackers used automation to mass-register and control accounts, posting and spreading dozens of unlawful content items per second, a volume far beyond human moderation and typically leaving platforms in a reactive “ban-as-new-appears” situation.

Kuaishou recently published solid third-quarter earnings. For the three months ended Sept. 30, net profit surged 37 percent from a year ago to CNY4.5 billion (USD640.2 million), while revenue jumped 14 percent to CNY35.6 billion (USD5.1 billion). Income from live-streaming rose 2.5 percent to CNY9.6 billion.

Its average daily active users hit 416.2 million in the period, setting a new record high for the third consecutive quarter.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor