LinkedIn forcing password resets due to Gawker hack

I was not impressed by this. It would have been nice of LinkedIn to include a more specific reason for requiring a password reset other than "We have recently disabled your account for security reasons.". I was in panic mode this morning thinking that someone had gotten into my LinkedIn account (and email) and triggered my account to be locked.

The most interesting thing about this to me is that they're obviously only emailing people who's emails were in the gawker data. Eg: I didn't receive one of these because I don't have a gawker account. Very cool.

I was really impressed about this. I changed most of my other password but forgot about LinkedIn. I think it's really responsible of them to proactively take the initiative on this.

Unfortunately for happiness, they reset my password after I'd already done so myself.

Yesterday I had to change my GMail &#38; Twitter password, today I got mail from LinkedIn to change my password. What is going on!?<p>Update: If your md5(email) is on this list <a href="http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?dsrcid=350662" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?dsrcid=350662</a> Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and probably other sites will ask you to change(reset) your password.<p>That happened to me.

Interestingly enough, my <i>former</i> LinkedIn email was on the Gawker list but my current email with them (to which they sent the alert) was not. Guess that means they are holding on to all previous email accounts?

LinkedIn is one of the sites that limit the length of your password and what it can maintain. I've emailed their staff many times, and they simply respond that those are the password restrictions.

Is LinkedIn completely down for anyone else? The site's been devolving all afternoon for me. First it said there was a problem and they'd redirect to the homepage in a few minutes. Then there was a LinkedIn-branded Sun ONE Web Server landing page that just had features of ONE for the last hour or so. I just checked back and now it's a totally stock landing page without the linkedin logo. Something seems to be seriously FUBAR today.

Blizzard did it too for the battle.net thing.

And now it seems like they are down, just after I reset my password: <a href="http://img.skitch.com/20101214-jk1wagxdf1kn4af4eq9tw2s4na.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://img.skitch.com/20101214-jk1wagxdf1kn4af4eq9tw2s4na.jp...</a><p>Something about this makes me feel nervous..

And no doubt the phishers are already cooking up emails to this effect too...

Looks the same to me. Is it only for the premium accounts?

I think it's a little silly to force this site-wide. In my experience, most people don't make accounts to comment on tech blogs, and those that do are probably already privvy to the need to change a password when a big database of passwords containing or potentially containing your password is released.<p>I think it is weird for big companies to act like this has such far-reaching effects; 1.5 million users is not that many in the overall scheme of things, and how many of your users intersect? Apparently LinkedIn thinks that most business people who read that a LinkedIn account would make employers think you were smart and cool also had an account with the same credentials at Gawker.