Following Latest Data Thefts Hasso Plattner Institute Expands its Identity Leak Checker

POTSDAM, Germany, September 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Security researchers at the German Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering (HPI) have tracked down a further eleven million stolen pieces of identity data that have been made public in special Internet forums. HPI scientists have integrated their findings in the so-called HPI Identity Leak Checker https://sec.hpi.de. Since May of this year, all Internet users are invited to check their e-mail address and find out if their associated identity data is circulating freely on the Internet where it could be subject to further misuse.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/705801 )

The account data of almost five million owners of Google email accounts is involved. Also affected are users of the Russian search engine Yandex.ru (1.2 million) and the e-mail provider Mail.ru. (4.5 million). HPI can now conduct the check based on nearly 182 million pieces of such kinds of different identity information.

Due to a sharp rise of interest in Internet security problems, Hasso Plattner Institute is offering a six-week free online course starting on October 27th. The course in German language, entitled "Internet Security," is open to everyone.  Already 4,000 have signed up to take part at: https://open.hpi.de/courses/intsec2014 .

A few weeks before the start of this course, HPI is also launching a new Internet educational platform at openHPI on September 22. This will be the first attempt to introduce pupils to programming in a fun way in a "Massive Open Online Course" (MOOC). Nearly 3000 young people in german speaking countries have already enrolled in the course at https://open.hpi.de/courses/intsec2014 .

A picture accompanying this release is available in the AP PhotoExpress feed using ref# PRN183352.

Press contact:

HPI-Spokesman Hans-Joachim Allgaier, Marketing and PR Manager, Telephone +49(0)311-5509-119. Mail: presse@hpi.de.