The popular business social network LinkedIn was recently hacked with approximately 6.5 million of their 150 million user accounts compromised. The passwords were published online, which is a reminder not to use a password that you wouldn’t want published publicly with your contact information.
Check Your LinkedIn Password. A website has been setup to see if your LinkedIn password was one of the 6.5 million that had been stolen and made public. For an extra measure of security, after you check your password, you may want to change it anyway.
- Visit LastPass.com/linkedin/ and follow the instructions.
Use a Passord Utility. Software programs are available to securely store your passwords in a central file on your computer. These apps typically synchronize with your mobile devices (iPhone/iPad) and any other computers you use. Here are some of the best password storage programs.
Read Articles. Below are articles about the security breach.
- Daily Mail – Leaked LinkedIn passwords show that not EVERYONE is in love with their job (7 June 2012)
- Forbes – Linkedin Hacked: A Few App Suggestions For Protecting Your Online Passwords (6 June 2012)
- PC World – Update: LinkedIn Confirms Account Passwords Hacked (6 June 2012)
Security Landscape. The security landscape has become treacherous. According to an article in Forbes:
Last month Facebook admitted that hackers are breaking into hundreds of thousands of Facebook accounts every day. Out of more than a billion logins to the website every 24 hours, 600,000 are impostors attempting to access users’ messages, photos and other personal information Facebook said. [Source: Forbes]