Operator calls for third-party ticketing boycott following info leak   

12306官网回应信息泄露：系经其他网站或渠道流出

The China Railway Corporation announced on Friday that police have detained two people suspected of illegally obtaining and disclosing personal information stored in its official ticket booking website, www.12306.cn. [Photo: China News Service/Zhang Hao]

(ECNS) -- China Railway Corporation urged the public to buy tickets from its official website 12306.cn instead of third-party services following a major leak of personal information on the Internet.

On Thursday, it was discovered that over 140,000 personal ID numbers, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of train ticket buyers had been leaked online for profit.

China Railway Corporation confirmed the news in a statement posted on microblog site Sina Weibo, but said that the data was leaked via other channels instead of its own website, which is completely encrypted.

When users log on to third-party websites, which is easier and quicker for buying tickets, security breaches might reveal information, said Professor Huang from the Computing Department of Wuhan University.

Many third-party ticketing websites operate without adequate security checks, so it is safer for users to use the official site, he warned.

China Railway Corporation has repeatedly warned that there are significant risks to buying tickets through third-party websites because of suspicious marketing skills and information leakage.

Users are encouraged to buy tickets from the official website as millions of people prepare for Chunyun, the hectic travel period surrounding Chinese New Year. In 2013, about 266 million rail trips made during this time, up 12 percent from the previous year.

However, the leak has scared many ticket buyers, with some commenting via Weibo that they have already changed their passwords to prevent further risks.

The case is currently under investigation by police.

12306.cn, China's official train ticketing website, has remained under the spotlight since its launch in 2011. Poor efficiency, slow response times, and frequent crashes are just a few problems it has faced over the past years.

However, some engineers blame the massive number of requests the website has to deal with during peak periods. On December 19, China sold more than 9.56 million train tickets, a new record for daily sales, with tickets made available for February 16, 2015 three days ahead of Spring Festival.

The website also experienced a record high of 29.7 billion page views, the Institute of Computing Technology under the China Academy of Railway Sciences said.