With Gawker admitting that its central password database had been compromised by hackers over the December 11-12 weekend, readers of the blogging empire’s numerous websites – including Gawker itself, along with Gizmodo, Deadspin, Fleshbot, Kotaku, io9, Jalopnik, Jezebel, and Lifehacker – have been virtually scrambling to see whether their e-mail addresses have been publicly exposed.

The Sunday publishing of Gawker’s back-end database on the Pirate Bay Bit Torrent included Gawker source code; nearly 1.3 million user-account passwords, usernames, and e-mail addresses; instant messages between employees; and information pertaining to the likelihood of a possible site overhaul.

According to reports, simple passwords may be more vulnerable to the widespread Gawker attack, despite the fact that they were encrypted using Data Encryption Standard (DES).

Mentioning some interesting patterns of the recent hacker attacks against Gawker sites, Jon Oberheide – Duo security’s chief technology officer, who used a tool called John the Ripper on the passwords – said in a blog post: “Attackers will undoubtedly be testing the cracked passwords against both personal and corporate services such as e-mail accounts, online banking sites, VPN remote access logins.”

One of the Gawker attacks-related FAQ on Lifehacker has noted that that all registered users of any of Gawker’s sites are apparently at risk, barring those who have logged in using Facebook Connect.

Users can search for their e-mail addresses in clear text by downloading a 500MB file; or by typing in their username and/or e-mail address on a site called GawkerCheck. com.