egional chemicals distributor based in Missouri. MAIN FACTS: -Financial details weren't disclosed. -The move improves Brenntag's presence in the food & beverage and water treatment industries. -Brenntag will integrate the unit into its north American operations over the next six months. -In 2010, G.S. Robins &amegional chemicals distributor based in Missouri. MAIN FACTS: -Financial details weren't disclosed. -The move improves Brenntag's presence in the food & beverage and water treatment industries. -Brenntag will integrate the unit into its north American operations over the next six months. -In 2010, G.S. Robins &assword to access an account, LinkedIn's system creates a cookie "LEO_AUTH_TOKEN" on the user's computer that serves as a key to gain access to the account. Lots of websites use such cookies, but what makes the LinkedIn cookie unusual is that it does not expire for a full year from the date it is created, Narang said. He detailed the vulnerability in a posting on his blog at www.wtfuzz.com on Saturday. Most commercial websites would typically design their access token cookies to expire in 24 hours, or even earlier if a user were to first log off the account, Narang said. There are some exceptions: Banking sites often log users off after 5 or 10 minutes of inactivity. Google gives its users the option of using cookies that keep them logged on for several weeks, but it lets the user decide first. The long life of the LinkedIn cookie means that anybody who gets hold of that file can load it on to a PC and easily gain access to the original user's account for as much as a year. The company issued a statement saying that it already takes steps to secure the accounts of its customers. "LinkedIn takes the privacy and security of our members seriously," the statement said. "Whether you are on LinkedIn or any other site, it's always a good idea to choose trusted and encrypted WiFi networks or VPNs (virtual private networks) whenever possible." The company said that it currently supports SSL, or secure sockets layer, technology for encrypting certain "sensitive" data, including account logins. But those access token cookies are not yet scrambled with SSL. That makes it possible for hackers to steal the cookies using widely available tools for sniffing Internet tr