Cyber criminals strike again. According to an article on the BBC News website, more than 6 million LinkedIn users have had their password information posted on a Russian Web forum along with an invitation for other hackers to assist in decrypting the as yet still protected data.
This announcement comes shortly after the announcement that researchers had discovered that LinkedIn’s mobile app was lifting information from users’ calendars and sending it, unencrypted, back to LinkedIn’s servers without the users’ knowledge or permission.
LinkedIn has said, via Twitter, “Our team continues to investigate, but at this time, we’re still unable to confirm that any security breach has occurred.”
Still, LinkedIn’s 150 million users are being advised to change their LinkedIn passwords immediately. If they use the same password on more than one account, experts recommend that users change the passwords on those accounts as well.
Changing a LinkedIn password is simple. After logging in to his account, a user can click on his name on the upper right side of the page. In the drop down box, click on the word Settings. On the settings page, beside the word Password, click on the word Change and then follow the steps to create a new password.
IT experts across the globe have checked and confirmed that the password breach it appears real. Although the data is said to still be encrypted, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
