Ctrip fixes loophole to safeguard user information

Ctrip.com, China's leading travel site, said Sunday it has fixed a loophole in its website that could lead to leaks of users' payment information.

A loophole report website WooYun.org announced Saturday that users' payment information on Ctrip.com may be downloaded, causing leaks of users' identification card number and detailed bank card information.

Last night, Ctrip conducted a through inspection as soon as it was informed of the problem and fixed the loophole, the company said in a Sunday posting on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging service in China.

"We found it was a temporary loophole that appeared during the debugging process," the posting said.

The company added that no one had actually downloaded any user information "for malicious purposes" and the website's safety was not affected.

"We solemnly promise that if users suffer losses due to future safety loopholes, Ctrip will compensate for the full amount of losses," the company said.

Ctrip.com was listed on NASDAQ in December 2003. Its shares edged up 0.02 percent on Friday to close at 49.49 US dollars.