Qihoo 360 controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2022
U.S. military-company designation
The U.S. Department of Defense added Qihoo 360 to a list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States, extending the company's geopolitical and regulatory controversy.
2020
U.S. Entity List designation
The United States accused Qihoo 360 of contributing to high-technology surveillance connected with the crackdown in Xinjiang and placed the company on the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List. Chinese officials denied the legitimacy of the measure and demanded its withdrawal.
2020
Children's-watch backdoor report
Security researchers reported a backdoor affecting a line of children's watches manufactured by Qihoo for Xplora, raising concerns about the security of connected products used by minors.
2020
Samsung storage-cleaner data controversy
Users questioned the presence of Qihoo technology in Samsung mobile storage-cleaning tools and the transmission of data to Chinese servers. Samsung said the information was generic device information needed for optimization and did not identify particular files.
2017
Privacy concerns over publicly streamed security footage
Chinese authorities moved to curb widespread online streaming of security-camera, private-webcam, and IP-camera footage, citing privacy and portrait-rights concerns and sanctioning activity involving security-camera companies, including Qihoo-related services.
2016
StartCom and WoSign certificate-authority controversy
Mozilla documents indicated that Qihoo appeared to have acquired a controlling interest in StartCom through a chain involving WoSign. Mozilla alleged failures to disclose ownership changes and other certificate-authority compliance concerns. Google and Mozilla subsequently announced restrictions on trust for relevant certificate roots.
2015
Dispute over antivirus testing configurations
Several antivirus-testing organizations alleged that Qihoo supplied a version using the Bitdefender engine for testing while its consumer release used the company's QVM engine, raising questions about whether test results represented ordinary users' protection.
2012
Alleged undeclared mechanism in 360 Secure Browser
A whistleblower alleged that 360 Secure Browser contained a hidden backdoor. Independent analysis cited an undeclared mechanism that periodically contacted a server and could download files, including executable files. Qihoo rejected the allegations and attributed criticism to commercial smearing.
2010
3Q software conflict forced users to choose; subsequent lawsuits decided separately
In 2010, the software dispute between Tencent and Qihoo 360 escalated; QQ stopped services for users who had 360 software installed, triggering controversy over choice and compatibility. In related litigation, in 2014 the Supreme People's Court found that 360's Koukou Bodyguard constituted unfair competition and ordered compensation of 5 million yuan to Tencent; in a separate case, it rejected 360's appeal in its antitrust suit against Tencent. The conclusions of the two cases cannot be conflated.