LinkedIn probing reports of massive breach
About 6.5 million hashed LinkedIn passwords said to be
accessed and posted online
Jaikumar Vijayan, June 6, 2012 (Computerworld)
Professional social networking service LinkedIn today said it is investigating reports that hackers broke into its systems and accessed the usernames and hashed passwords of the social network's 6.5 million members.
The data was said to be posted on an online Russian hacker forum.
One security researcher today said that he has downloaded a file from a Russian hacker website containing more than 6.4 million hashed passwords.
Users of LinkedIn should immediately change their passwords to protect their accounts, he said.
After reviewing the data posted online by the apparent hackers, Carey said, "We don't know who is behind this but [they] definitely had access to the LinkedIn database for at least the last week."
If it turns out that the hackers still have access to the database, LinkedIn users may need to change their passwords again, he aid.
