It’s Time To Update Your LinkedIn Password: Massive Data Breach Revisited

In an unsettling revelation dating back to 2012, LinkedIn, the world’s largest online network of professionals, fell prey to a formidable data breach. This cyber attack saw theft of user information on a staggering scale, the extent of which is arguably way more significant than what was initially predicted by the company.

Initially, approximately 6.5 million accounts were reported to have been compromised during the breach. However, recent data analysis indicates this estimate is rather conservative. The company now believes the actual figure is possibly higher, potentially affecting close to 100 million user accounts – a considerable leap upwards.

LinkedIn’s official statement reads, “Yesterday, we became aware of an additional set of data just released that claims to be email and hashed password combinations of over 100 million LinkedIn members from the same theft incident in 2012. We are taking immediate steps to invalidate the passwords of the accounts impacted. Impacted individuals will be contacted to reset their passwords.”

Importantly, LinkedIn stresses, “We have no evidence to suggest a new security breach” on their [official blog post](https://blog.linkedin.com/2016/05/18/protecting-our-members). However, this seemingly massive underestimation of affected accounts from the original incident is indeed a source of concern.

A separate report on [Motherboard](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/another-day-another-hack-117-million-linkedin-emails-and-password?utm_source=mbtwitter) goes even further, suggesting that the alleged cyber culprit could have potentially accessed data from 117 million accounts.

Subsequently, LinkedIn moved to swiftly advise everyone to change their passwords, especially for accounts created prior to 2012. The hacker initially stole passwords that were encrypted, and later claimed to have cracked 90% of those codes – a probability that seems alarming.

Adding insult to injury, the malefactor is currently putting up the stolen information for sale on the infamous dark web for a price tag of 5 bitcoins, roughly translating to about $2,200 or 423,000 [Naira](https://www.techbooky.com/).

In conclusion, if you are a LinkedIn user, it’s advisable to change your password immediately and enable two-factor authentication for enhanced security, even if you have not been notified about a potential breach yet. Your professional network deserves nothing less than ironclad security.