If it turns out that LinkedIn passwords have leaked…

…here’s what you should do

Rumours are circulating on the net that a database of hashes of LinkedIn passwords has been published on a Russian hacker site.

I cannot confirm this, but if the article referred to above is correct then there is a risk to LinkedIn users; password cracking software such as Hashcat can be brought to bear on the problem, and passwords that are derived from common words and phrases – or which are just too short – can and will be broken.

I’ll write more in the meantime, but in the meantime:

1. Choose a new password – a short phrase, make it twelve or more characters long; don’t worry too much about making it look random but instead make it long-and-memorable and use proper spacing and (perhaps) punctuation.

2. See this famous cartoon for techical explanation, but don’t reuse the password it suggests.

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