6.5 MILLION LINKEDIN PASSWORD REPORTEDLY LEAKED ONLINE

Security professionals suspect a catastrophic breach in business-focused social network LinkedIn password database. A user in a Russian forum says that he has hacked and uploaded almost 6.5 million unique hashed LinkedIn passwords, according to The Verge. With more than 200,000 of the password reported to have been cracked the file only contains passwords hashed using the SHA-1 algorithm and does not include user names or any other data, security researchers say. LinkedIn revealed through its own tweet that it's looking into reports of stolen passwords, and it advised users to stay tuned for more information. This is a huge privacy breach and it could be damning if LinkedIn password database can be so “easily” compromised. Sophos security expert Graham Cluley is advising LinkedIn users to change their passwords as soon as possible, at least as a precaution. If the report is true, then hackers are undoubtedly working hard to decrypt the hashed, or unsalted, passwords.