Ask Ireland about brach says LInkedin

Australia's privacy commiseration is seeking help from Irish authorities to investigate Linkedin's massive password leak earlier this week.


Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim today asked Irish Data Protection Commissioner's Office
to keep him in the lop on its investigation after Linkedin  member's passwords were found among 6.5 million leaked online.

Mr Pilgrim approached his Irish counterpart after LInkedin Australia referred his inquiries to Linkedin Ireland which is responsible for its operations outside the US.

" I have asked the Commissioner to keep me informed an to share information with me about this matter. I will then determine whether to open an investigation on the basis information with me about this matter. I will then determine whether to open an investigation on the basis of the information provided to me from that process, "Mr Pilgrim said.

Mr Pilgrim was also making "preliminary enquiries" with the local subsidiary of online dating site eHarmony which , along with UK music site Last. FM,,,,also conceded that its members'  passwords were among those leaked late yesterday.

"In the meantime, I would advise eHarmony users to change their password if they are concerned, "he said.
Linkedin and eHarmony have declined to comment on the breaches and referred The Australian's to their respective company blogs.

Linkedin has over three million members in Australia, eHarmony declined to reveal how many subscribers it has in Australia.

Security experts fear that the leak could start a wave of identity fraud and cyber crime.

Linkedin member profiles contain private and personal information about their dating activity.
Internet users habitually reuse passwords leading to concerns that thieves could use the  Linkedin password to try gain access to other online services including Facebook, Gmail,
Hotmail, PayPal and internet banking sites.

Under current Australian privacy laws, companies are not required to report privacy breaches to the federal regulator but the commissioner is pushing for new reporting rules to be included in the Attorney General's review of current privacy legislation.