ALERT! – 100 Million LinkedIn Credentials For Sale – ALERT!

Published On May 19, 2016 | By Tom Huskerson | Alerts

Linkedin-LogoIts not over yet! LinkedIn announced that more than 100 million log in credentials have suddenly appeared on the dark web. The credentials are believed to be from a 2012 data breach. Some media websites have reported that the number of credentials for sale could be as high as 167 million.

LinkedIn said in a statement “Yesterday, we became aware of an additional set of data that had just been released that claims to be email and hashed password combinations…from that same theft in 2012. We have no indication that this is as a result of a new security breach.” LinkedIn declared it was taking “immediate steps” to invalidate the passwords of the affected accounts and contacting those members to reset their passwords.

A Russian hacker who goes by name of  “Peace,” is offering 117 million email and password combinations on a hacker website. Motherboard.vice.com  said it has obtained a sample of about one million credentials from Leak Source, a paid search engine for hacked data. Leak Source claims to have 167 million of the leaked log in credentials. According to Motherboard.vice.com the asking price for the data is five Bitcoins, or about $2,300.

LinkedIn took action by resetting user names and passwords of members who joined the networking site prior to 2012 and who failed to change their passwords since the last breach. LinkedIn added, “We have demanded that parties cease making stolen password data available and will evaluate potential legal action if they fail to comply. In the meantime, we are using automated tools to attempt to identify and block any suspicious activity that might occur on affected accounts.”

For LinkedIn users here are steps you should take immediately to protect your account.

  1. Immediately change your password. Make sure you use a passphrase containing at least 12 characters. Mix ’em up! use number, letters and special characters.  Check your password strength here.
  2.  Enable two-factor authentication. Learn that here.
  3. Never, ever use the same password on different accounts (email, social networks, etc)! If you do change them all NOW! This ensures hackers can’t access your other accounts.

 

 

 

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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