LinkedIn Hack & What You Should Do

Public Service Announcement:

On Wednesday, May 18, 2016, LinkedIn announced that an additional set of data from their users has been released which claims to be the email address and hashed password combinations for more than 100 million LinkedIn users. This data breach is a result of the same attack LinkedIn faced in 2012.

In 2012, LinkedIn worked with the affected users to invalidate their passwords and create new ones. They also encouraged all LinkedIn users to change their password.

If you did not change your LinkedIn password after the 2012 hack, you REALLY need to do it now.

You can read LinkedIn’s response and stay updated on the situation here.

So, how can you protect yourself in the future?

1. Use different passwords for each website.
2. Use different email addresses for the different things you do online. For example, use one email address for work, another for financial accounts, and a third for social sites.
3. Make your password strong by using a couple characters among the letters and numbers.
4. If you’ve used the same password for multiple sites, change the password for all of them. It’s easy for hackers to figure out that if you are on LinkedIn, you are likely to be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
5. Be alert to suspicious emails that you receive and don’t click on any links in them.
6. Evaluate anyone wanting to make a connection with you on social sites.

• Have they been on the site for awhile or has their account been opened in the last few months?
• Are there typos or grammar issues on their profiles?
• If you don’t know the person, Google their name before you accept the connection to learn more about them.
• Do a Google image search on their photo to see where else it pops up online.
• Be cautious of anyone who is part of 100’s of groups on Facebook.

Despite the threats to our data, don’t let this derail your use of social media or online sites. Stay alert and use common sense about passwords. The hackers win if you stop playing.