LinkedIn has always been that app that was termed as the millennial’s secret. You go on the app and you can connect with your employees and employers alike. It was an app that was designed solely for the purpose of being work related and you can find people and search for jobs related to your niche. Even major companies and social media giants require people to have a LinkedIn account. The simple tune by which the ad comes on YouTube is very popular and is known by millions across the globe. If you are someone that has a decent following and you have a business or a degree, you should definitely build a LinkedIn account. Although the app is so popular among the working class, it holds a variety of information such as your contacts, the people you interact with, your address, payment options, and whatnot.
Having an account on LinkedIn is like creating a resume. The more attractive the account is the better it will garner and the more you will grow. But this is not the reason as to why this is included as a news article. The reason is quite grave and something to think about. As to why it deserves an ire from the internet is the same reason why this news has been brought before you. Our sources have confirmed that a data leak has happened at Linkedin and chances are that you might be in the same position too. There were rumours here and there sometime ago but we didn’t expect this to be true. Unfortunately, this data leak has just been reported to have actually happened and many other news agencies have been pestering LinkedIn for this leak. There were no signs of the leak but there was one company that broke in.
RestoreSecurity is the name of the company that has investigated this leak. They have a whole bunch of reasons as to why this happened and they have shared it exclusively on their website. But apart from that, this is certainly devastating news. Many people have trusted Linkedin with all their private information such as their addresses and now that the leak has occurred what would happen to the personal security of the people? What about the warranty of the people’s data? Who would be held responsible if the data is used to injure or hurt someone? Moreover, this doesn’t stop like this. The data leak wasn’t something as a mere show of the data that was accidentally released over the internet. It wasn’t as how Tom Holland slips important marvel secrets in between conversations or on Twitter.
It was such a huge data breach that it was put up on sale online. Where? Exactly where you are thinking it to be.the dark web. Yes, the place is filled with strange creatures around the world with unknown guilty pleasures. That’s where yours, our teams, and everyone’s personal data such as our contact number is right now. And, haven’t we already experienced this twice in the past year? What more can happen? We did experience the two major data breaches where personal data was harvested for selfish gains. Bad actors have a key role to play here. Vast amounts of user data was already leaked before by this social media company and now this? Moreover, the implications that can happen from this type of attack is enormous. It could really be anything. Identity theft, phishing on a personal level, social engineering attacks are just a few that are being named here. Kidnapping and extortion are just some of the major disadvantages to LinkedIn users that could happen with this breach.
Let’s indulge in more. Our sources have confirmed that apart from the huge data leak that has occurred with this company, the company has no clear idea as to when, where and how this happened. The audacity of this company is surely something that would never be ignored. They have no clue as to how it happened and on top of that, they haven’t even been vocal about the same. When reached for a comment the response from the company was more shocking rather than comforting. The company has clearly stated that the breach hasn’t happened and it is impossible for the breach to occur and that the data must be scraped from LinkedIn and from various other sources as well. They have assured that they are investigating the matter which is a must and isn’t something that should be even considered but the fact that they are investigating shows that they do believe that somewhere the data leak has happened.
They have also assured all the netizens that the company is working round the clock to make sure that everything is safe and secured. As for how, when and where the leak happened nobody knows. But, the company has hired many technicians that would look into this matter. As for how we found out that it has occurred, as mentioned above, it was put on sale on the dark web. It makes our skin crawl just to even think about this. It was on July 22nd, just a few days ago where one of the hacker forums lit up with an unknown username. Of course, since this is such a big data breach, there is no username and identity is well hidden. The hacker has claimed in a message that about 700 million user data is now for sale. The data is from LinkedIn and it is up for sale for anyone with a good amount of money.
The forum as to where it was uploaded is a very popular forum among hackers. This forum has had many exquisite subjects such as this one. The most surprising fact was that apart from the 700 million, the user had uploaded 1 million user data for free as a sample. The sample itself was shocking enough to believe that the data is genuine and is from LinkedIn. Emails, phone numbers, addresses, location records, username profiles, LinkedIn ID, names and the link for a user’s other personal accounts such as Instagram and Twitter that people connect with on LinkedIn were seen in the sample that the hacker uploaded. Even the summaries as we write on LinkedIn to explain as to who we are and what we do is mentioned in the sample. Since the sample is genuine and the number of users (10 million!!), it is actually true that the hacker may have all the 700 million user data too.
Moreover, personal data being available for sale like vegetables on a cart is something quite terrifying. Now as far as the numbers are concerned, LinkedIn has about 764 million users on its platform. And this hacker is selling about 700 of them. This is almost 90% of data that is being sold as hot cucumbers. Moreover, the data that is provided by the hacker is accurate and up-to-date. This has been thoroughly confirmed by our sources too. Although there is no mention of any data related to a user’s bank or credit card numbers or something, bad actors can use even the most basic of data for their financial gains. The terrifying thing is that it is still up for sale. RestoreSecurity tried to negotiate with the hacker through a discreet forum and two things were discovered from the same. The first was that the hacker is currently selling everything for 5 thousand dollars and it would increase.
Accounting for the data and the amount that is leaked, the company should take up the challenge but it is still up for sale and the fact that the hacker should be found as to who the person is and how they got hold of such a huge amount of user’s data. This is the second thing that was noticed by the hacker. When asked as to where they broke in, the hacker simply replies to the LinkedIn API. Although nothing can be said to the hacker who did this job, the company should be held responsible for this. Think about so many risks that have fallen on over 700 million users worldwide. Your entire profiles as to where you live, what you do, what you speak, who you are, your gender, birthdate, everything has been leaked. There could be hackers that can create an entire profile of yours on the basis of this data leak.
So many things and so many worries. So much can happen with this user leak. You can’t even tell whether your data is among the 700 million or not. And please note that once it is leaked, it would have no value anymore and you cannot erase your data from these hackers or cybercriminals. What’s done is done. You can’t even hold the company responsible as there are many terms and conditions of the apps that we use and skip without reading which clearly states that our data is our responsibility. So, keep in mind the next time you enter everything related to you on any website no matter how secure it could be.
