CRI听力:Online Information Leaks

On December 21, 2011, an unknown hacker released over 6 million accounts from one of the largest programmers' websites in China, CSDN. The company said the leak included user IDs, passwords and e-mail addresses in plain text.

The hacking case escalated the following day after the personal details of subscribers to more websites were leaked, this time from popular online gaming and social networking sites.

CSDN should take immediate action to repair the system gaps and provide users with security solutions. But Computer security expert Shi Xiaohong from Qihoo 360 believes the leak has spread to other websites.

"Many Internet users have registered the same passwords for their e-mail, microblog, online gaming and online payment accounts. So, if the server of one of the websites is hacked, their accounts and passwords on other websites could also be stolen."

Disgruntled internet users in China rushed to change their passwords after the leak occurred, the largest of its kind in the history of China's Internet development.

According to the China Internet Networks Information Center, in the first half of this year, 217 million Chinese Internet users, roughly 45 percent of the country's total online population, were attacked by malware, including viruses or Trojan horses. 121 million users had their accounts or passwords stolen.

Some people analyzed the personal information leaked online, finding that about 2.4 million people share the same password with other people. For example, about 240 thousand people use "123456789" as their password, and about 900 people use "5845201314" as the password to express love to their partner, which in mandarin sounds like "I swear I love you for ever". Also it's very common for users to use their birth date or six 1's as their password. Expert Shi Xiaohong advises Internet users against panicking, saying that effective classification and timely update of passwords would prevent their privacy from being violated.

"Firstly, we suggest that internet users categorize their passwords. You should have different passwords for your important accounts, such as the email and chatting accounts. Secondly, internet users should change their passwords in a timely manner. Thirdly, do not register with your working email account, in case the personal information leak will damage the information security of the company."

Experts also suggest that users enhance the protection of their personal information by not providing too much real information in online registrations and setting difficult passwords that are hard for hackers to crack.

China has the world's largest online population, with 485 million internet users. China's internet industry is developing rapidly, yet it's still in its early stages. The government should prioritize security issues arising alongside new technologies and focus more on preventing illegal hacking.

For CRI, this is WangJing.