Microsoft has confirmed that thousands of Hotmail accounts have been compromised in a phishing attack. BBC News has seen a list of more than 10,000 e-mail accounts and passwords which had been posted online. The software giant, which owns the web-based e-mail system, said that it "had launched an investigation". Phishing involves using fake websites to lure people into revealing personal details such as bank accounts or login names and other private data. (thanks Stumpus)

Update: The phishing attack has spread to Google Mail and Yahoo mail amongst others. BBC News is reporting that Google have confirmed the phishing attack.