LinkedIn investigates alleged password leak

Members of business-focused social networking site LinkedIn are being urged to change their login details, following reports that millions of users may have had their passwords leaked online.

The company confirmed on Twitter it is investigating the possibility that nearly 6.5 million user passwords have been posted on a Russian web forum.

The tweet read: "Our team is currently looking into reports of stolen passwords. Stay tuned for more."

Despite the fact the leak has not been confirmed, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security vendor Sophos, said users should consider changing their passwords anyway.

In a post on the Sophos Naked Security blog, Cluley stated: "Although the data [that] has been released so far does not include associated email addresses, it is reasonable to assume that such information may be in the hands of the criminals.

"As such, it would seem sensible to suggest to Linkedin users that they change their passwords as soon as possible as a precautionary step," he added.