LinkedIn investigating reports of stolen passwords

LONDON - Business social network LinkedIn says it is investigating reports that more than six million passwords have been stolen and leaked onto the Internet.

Graham Cluley, a consultant with U.K. web security company Sophos, said in a blog post that a file containing more than 6 million encrypted passwords has been posted on the Internet and hackers are working together to crack them.

He said Wednesday that investigations by Sophos researchers have confirmed that the file does contain, in part, LinkedIn passwords. Cluley recommended LinkedIn users change their passwords "as soon as possible."

LinkedIn did not respond to repeated requests for comment but the company posted a tweet a few hours after the first reports emerged saying that its team is "looking into reports of stolen passwords."

Two hours later the company posted a second tweet saying that it was still unable to confirm if a security breach had occurred.