Personal information including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and passwords have been made public online after the website http://www.theirishfield.ie was hacked. The Gardai and the Data Protection Office has been notified and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the breach.

It is understood that the personal details were posted on the boards.ie website but were taken down shortly after one of the moderators were made aware of the posting. It is believed that the data will surface elsewhere on the Internet however.

As people generally tend to use the same password for numerous accounts, in the case of a breach like this, it can also end up with email addresses and other user accounts being compromised.