LinkedIn probe as passwords leaked

Business social network LinkedIn said yesterday it is investigating reports that more than six million passwords have been stolen and leaked onto the internet.

The professional social network LinkedIn said yesterday it was probing a possible data breach after reports said more than 6.4 million passwords were stolen.

“Our team is currently looking into reports of stolen passwords. Stay tuned for more,” the company said in a Twitter message.

Several security researchers reported the breach posted on a Russian hacker forum.

Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos said the posting “does contain, at least in part, LinkedIn passwords”.

“Although the data which has been released so far does not include associated email addresses, it is reasonable to assume such information may be in the hands of the criminals,” Cluley said in a blog post.

As a result, Cluley said, “it would seem sensible to suggest to all LinkedIn users that they change their passwords as soon as possible as a precautionary step.”

He said users should ensure the password you use is not used on any other websites, and hard to crack.

“If you were using the same passwords on other websites — make sure to change them too. And never again use the same password on multiple websites,” he said.

LinkedIn referred repeated requests for comment to the company’s Twitter feed, where it said its team was looking into reports of stolen passwords. Two hours later, the company posted a second tweet saying it was still unable to confirm if a security breach had occurred.

Shares of the company edged down 1.2%.