San Francisco  - The passwords to more than 10,000 Hotmail accounts were hacked and posted on an online forum used by software developers, according to a report Monday on the website neowin. net.

Microsoft said it was investigating the report. "We're actively investigating the situation and will take appropriate steps as rapidly as possible," a spokesman said.

According to Neowin, the list was posted on Friday at pastebin. com but has since been taken down. The site said it had seen parts of the list and that the accounts appeared to be genuine and mostly based in Europe. The list detailed accounts starting from A through B, suggesting that other accounts may also have been compromised.

Further exacerbating the threat is the fact that many people use the same log on information for Hotmail and other online resources offered by Microsoft, which could expose sensitive information. Neowin recommended Hotmail users to change their password and security section immediately.  dpa