China UnionPay has announced a new security service for its trans-bank payment system: China UnionPay Internet Safety Payment Platform.

The new system has been formally put into use on a trial basis. A representative from China UnionPay says this platform, which is designed by giving full consideration to the various risks that might be involved during online payments, will work more effectively in ensuring cardholders' online transaction safety.

Last week, anti-virus firm Rising announced that the official website of China UnionPay was attacked by a hacker. China UnionPay's homepage was embedded with a backdoor program which would make users' computers contract with a virus once they clicked the link on the page. A representative from China UnionPay said that the attack was only targeted at the official website of China UnionPay, so the company's transaction network had not been affected.