6.4m LinkedIn passwords stolen

The professional social network LinkedIn said Wednesday it was probing a possible data breach after reports said more than 6.4 million passwords were stolen.

 "Our team is currently looking into reports of stolen passwords. Stay tuned for more," the company said in a Twitter message.

Several security researchers reported the breach posted on a Russian hacker forum.
Graham Cluley of the British security said the posting "does contain, at least in part, LinkedIn passwords."

"Although the data which 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," Cluley said in a blog post.

As a result, Cluley said, "it would seem sensible to suggest to all LinkedIn users that they change their passwords as soon as possible as a precautionary step."

He said users should ensure the password you use is not used on any other websites, and hard to crack.

"If you were using the same passwords on other websites -- make sure to change them too. And never again use the same password on multiple websites," he said.

Read More

Login to Websites Without Passwords using BrowserID

What is BrowserID and how does it work?

BrowserID is an easy way to sign into websites. Instead of making up a hard-to-remember username and password for each site, BrowserID lets you use your email address and a single password to sign in to any site that supports it. This article shows you how BrowserID works and how you can get started using it. 

  

How does it work?

When you create a BrowserID account, you're sent a verification email that lets BrowserID know that you really own that email address. Then when you use BrowserID to log into a website, the website is given your email address and told that you really do own it but they are never given your BrowserID password. Basically, BrowserID vouches for you. See this blog post for all the nerdy details.

 

What are the benefits of BrowserID?

 

• You can use one easy-to-remember log in for all sites that support BrowserID.
• You never have to trust a website with your password because they never know it. Also, your password can't be stolen if one of those websites gets hacked.
• BrowserID doesn't track your activity on the websites you visit (privacy policy).  

 

BrowserID Features

 

Perhaps the best way to begin understanding BrowserID is to walk through its key design features:

• An email is an identity - There are no usernames in BrowserID, it uses emails addresses instead. Users identify with emails quite naturally, and no new infrastructure is needed to reliably verify ownership of them.
• Decentralized - A user's authentication to a website occurs in relative isolation. No network transactions with third parties are needed, so it is efficient and privacy-protecting. Additionally, any email address may be used, and any email provider may provide first class BrowserID support for their users.
• Ownership-Based Authentication - In BrowserID, the browser manages authentication material which can be used without a password - making authentication with BrowserID more reliant on ownership factors, and less on knowledge factors.
• Usable today, and better tomorrow - An HTML5 implementation provides a functional system today, and BrowserID is designed with adoption by browser vendors in mind. Native support in browsers will afford improvements in both user experience and security.

For More details and login visit : www.browserid.org

Thanks :)

Read More