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Banks: massive client data leak is rumor
By Xu Chi |
December 29, 2011, Thursday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
THREE major banks in China have denied an online rumor that more than 100 million client accounts had been stolen and their bank card numbers, user names and passwords were now available on the Internet.
Bank officials told Shanghai Daily that all their client passwords are encrypted in the database and it is impossible for any bank employee to see them in clear texts.
They said many of the "leaked" accounts were fake and not found in their database. They are still verifying the rest of the account numbers and user names.
The banks said they will work with the police to find out the rumor spreader.
The "leak" was revealed by an IT news website aitike.com around noon today. It reported that more than 70 million bank accounts have leaked from the Bank of Communications (BCM) and over 35 million from the China Minsheng Banking Corp (CMBC).
The website uploaded a screen shot as evidence, showing bank card numbers, client names and passwords in clear texts. The report said client data also leaked from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
The rumor quickly spread to the Twitter-like Weibo.com, causing panic among many people who were still jittery about the recent leak of more than 90 million website passwords posted online by a cyber-hacker.
In response, an official surnamed Wang with ICBC told Shanghai Daily that the alleged account leak was totally a rumor, which was seen as a publicity stunt.
"All the passwords of our client accounts are encrypted so no one in the bank can view them in clear texts," said Wang. "Technically, only bank account users may know their passwords, otherwise the banking industry would be a total mess."
The CMBC has published an announcement on its official website this afternoon, saying the data leak was fabricated after a careful check.
An official with the BCM said on his Weibo microblog that the "leak" was a rumor and the bank is probing into the case.
Starting last week, hackers have posted details of more than 90 million user profiles from Chinese online forums and social network sites on the Internet.
Among them were 40 million user profiles complete with user names and passwords from Tianya.cn, one of China's biggest online forums, which has more than 60 million users. Others were from China's popular IT websites and social networking sites.
Bank officials told Shanghai Daily that all their client passwords are encrypted in the database and it is impossible for any bank employee to see them in clear texts.
They said many of the "leaked" accounts were fake and not found in their database. They are still verifying the rest of the account numbers and user names.
The banks said they will work with the police to find out the rumor spreader.
The "leak" was revealed by an IT news website aitike.com around noon today. It reported that more than 70 million bank accounts have leaked from the Bank of Communications (BCM) and over 35 million from the China Minsheng Banking Corp (CMBC).
The website uploaded a screen shot as evidence, showing bank card numbers, client names and passwords in clear texts. The report said client data also leaked from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
The rumor quickly spread to the Twitter-like Weibo.com, causing panic among many people who were still jittery about the recent leak of more than 90 million website passwords posted online by a cyber-hacker.
In response, an official surnamed Wang with ICBC told Shanghai Daily that the alleged account leak was totally a rumor, which was seen as a publicity stunt.
"All the passwords of our client accounts are encrypted so no one in the bank can view them in clear texts," said Wang. "Technically, only bank account users may know their passwords, otherwise the banking industry would be a total mess."
The CMBC has published an announcement on its official website this afternoon, saying the data leak was fabricated after a careful check.
An official with the BCM said on his Weibo microblog that the "leak" was a rumor and the bank is probing into the case.
Starting last week, hackers have posted details of more than 90 million user profiles from Chinese online forums and social network sites on the Internet.
Among them were 40 million user profiles complete with user names and passwords from Tianya.cn, one of China's biggest online forums, which has more than 60 million users. Others were from China's popular IT websites and social networking sites.
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