Elance data breaches by parties unknown (but possibly Ukranian)

A data breach affecting users' contact information has been uncovered at Elance, an online contractor-gig site used by many tech professionals. A notice was sent out to various registered members and reposted to a Trust & Safety page of the site on Thursday.

According to the notice, some of the information in the pilfered data table -- which includes names, phone numbers and the like but not bank information or Social Security numbers -- has turned up on an unrelated site called outsourcingroom.com.

Elance says, "We've engaged with authorities to attempt to shut down a site named Outsourcingroom.com that publically displays some of the stolen information. Recently Outsourcingroom.com went offline, but they have since reappeared and we will continue our pursuit until they stop. We are also attempting to be as forthright as possible with updates."

A WHOIS look at outsourcingroom.com -- it was up when we checked at around 8:30 am EDT, though it fell offline again a few minutes later -- indicates that it's registered to "CyberBionic Systematics," a Ukranian firm, and is apparently hosted in the UK. A few registered users so far are getting unwanted e-mail and even unwanted text messages in the wake of the breach, and Elance cautions potential victims to respond cautiously if at all to unexpected solitications.

Elance says the vulnerability that caused the trouble has been sealed, but in the next few days users may expect to hear more about the problem -- and to get notice from the site that they'll need to choose new, stronger passwords.