LONDON  --  Business social network LinkedIn is confirming reports that some of its users' passwords have been stolen and leaked onto the Internet.

The company said in a blog post Wednesday that some of the more than six million passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. It did not say how many.

LinkedIn has a lot of information on its more than 160 million members, including potentially confidential information related to jobs being sought.

A consultant with a British web security company called Sophos says the more than six million encrypted passwords have been posted on the internet and that hackers are now working together to crack them.

Although the information released so far does not include associated e-mail addresses, Sophos consultant Graham Cluley says it's reasonable to assume criminals may have that information, too.

Cluley is recommending Linkedin users change their passwords as soon as possible.


Linkedin is referring requests for comment to its Twitter feed where it says its team is looking into reports of stolen passwords.

 

 

CASSANDRA VINOGRAD
Associated Press

 

The Associated Press/NBC