Up to 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords may have been hacked and leaked online, according to reports.
It appears a user on a Russian forum has claimed to have hacked LinkedIn and made off with the password information. The passwords were hashed but further reports are suggesting that the encryption has already been cracked. Some users on Twitter are claiming to have found their password in the file.
Dagens IT, a Norwegian technology site, reported the breach earlier today and claimed the hacker was asking for help in decrypting the passwords. There is a Google Translate version of the article here.
The information released so far does not contain the corresponding account email addresses but it is fair to assume that information is also in the hands of the hackers.
All LinkedIn has said on the matter so far is that it is looking into the reports, but security expert Per Thorsheim, who has seen the file, says the "number of occurrences of ‘linkedin’ in those passwords leave little doubt about the origin."
CBR suggests all LinkedIn users change their password as a precaution, particularly if the same password is used for more than one website.
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