Linkedin admits accounts breached
WASHINGTON: LinkedIn announced yesterday that some of its members’ passwords were stolen after reports said more than 6.4 million accounts were breached.
“We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation,” LinkedIn director Vicente Silveira said.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously.”
Silveira said passwords on the compromised accounts were no longer valid, and that those members would receive instructions on how to reset their passwords.
“There will not be any links in these e-mails. For security reasons, you should never change your password on any website by following a link in an e-mail,” he said. For other members, LinkedIn has implemented “enhanced security” for password protection.
Several security researchers reported the breach, which resulted in data being posted on a Russian hacker forum.
Graham Cluley of the British security firm Sophos said the hacker posting “does contain, at least in part, LinkedIn passwords”.
LinkedIn claims to operate the world’s largest professional network with 161 million members in 200 countries.
A recent survey showed LinkedIn is the most popular US site for posting jobs with 77 percent of openings shared there. – Sapa-AFP MIAMI: Miami police have warned of a potent new mindaltering drug called Cloud Nine after a snarling homeless man threatened to eat two officers a week after a grisly face-gnawing attack.
The ecstasy-like drug is part of a new line of over-thecounter “bath salts” implicated in an attack last week in which a growling naked man chewed off most of a homeless man’s face before being shot dead by police.
The police department is now warning officers to be extremely cautious around disorderly homeless men and telling the public to call police immediately if they see anyone showing signs of being on the new drug.
In the latest incident, police took Brandon De Leon into custody after he entered a restaurant shouting obscenities and initially resisted arrest.
On the way to the station he slammed his head against the plexiglass barrier in the patrol car, shouting to the officers: “I’m going to eat you!”
Later, the 21-year-old growled and grunted like an animal, and tried to bite an officer’s hand, police said, prompting them to fit him with a bite mask and leg restraints.
In addition to the Cloud Nine, police also believe De Leon finished off a bottle of rum and was working on a beverage called Four Loko, which combines alcohol and caffeine.
He tested positive for marijuana, Xanax and alcohol.
The case “bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man’s face”, a police memo to officers warned. – Sapa-AFP