12306.cn criticized for leaking user info

(ECNS) – A number of netizens and companies complained Saturday that 12306.cn, the official website for booking train tickets, was leaking some users' personal information, according to the Beijing News.

According to railway policy, beginning on Dec 28 (Saturday) the public can buy train tickets for the period starting on Jan 16, when the 2014 Spring Festival travel rush begins.

However, system problems have emerged since Saturday morning, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Many netizens said they couldn't access the website that morning. A technician at Cheetah Browser said the site had crashed for over an hour, and the browser 360 said plug-ins to help users buy tickets had been rejected by the website.

A user at WooYun, a third-party website for reporting bugs, said on Sunday afternoon that he gotten access to other users' credentials when he logged into his account at 12306.cn.

Xinhua also reported that someone had logged into the site with different browsers at about 2:40 p.m on Saturday, and found that account information had been moved.

The railway responded on Sunday evening via its official weibo, saying that page views had surged on Saturday, causing problems for customers. It said it had allocated network resources to meet customer needs and fixed the errors with personal account information.