Although not everyone is familiar with the latest and greatest hacking scandal, everyone should be familiar with LinkedIn, the World’s Largest Professional Network. What would you say if I told you that the two were related and LinkedIn experts are doing everything that they can to clear up the problems at hand – Over 6 MILLION “problems”!
On the morning of June 6, 2012, it was reported that over 6 million passwords were stolen from LinkedIn users and posted to a Russian hacker site. The LA Times reads, “The passwords are encrypted and hashed, according to reports, but that hasn’t made them unbreakable.” In addition, corresponding email addresses and/or usernames were not posted with the passwords. However, take this as an incentive to be more cautious about what you put on the internet and how many passwords overlap. Also, if you have one password for most of your accounts, please reconsider this. If you are unsure about a possible hack into your account, try logging on. If you can access your account, then chances are that your account was not compromised. If your password is no longer valid, then perhaps you should change some other passwords…
As a college student looking for job offers whenever they are available, of course I am a LinkedIn user. The idea of having my password stolen to this account is obviously frightening. I hope that all readers understand that the Internet is still a dangerous place, even with all of its great features. Sometimes information can fall into the hands of criminals. With that being said, I would advise everyone to change passwords more frequently, starting with your LinkedIn password in order to secure personal information. LinkedIn representatives have apologized for any inconveniences that this may have caused. Happy Networking!
How to change your LinkedIn password:
To stay tuned please visit the following links and be sure to follow @LinkedIn on Twitter!
http://blog.linkedin.com/2012/06/06/linkedin-member-passwords-compromised/
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/6/3067523/linkedin-password-leak-online
Emily is majoring in Health: Science, Society, & Policy with a minor in Legal Studies from Brandeis University in Massachusetts. She enjoys listening to music, cooking, and hanging out with friends. She is more than happy to hop on a bus to New York for an electro-filled weekend and write reviews for all the shows that she sees.
Emily Troge has 22 post(s) on RTR On Campus
