LinkedIn’s 2012 Data Breach Is Big, Change Your Password Now!

The commonly used professional networking platform has a big security issue on its hands.

Time to change your account password, folks. (Photo: iStockPhoto)

LinkedIn has sent mails to its users asking them to reset their account password to prevent themselves from falling into data mishaps.

LinkedIn users are getting this mail. (Photo Courtesy: LinkedIn screen grab)

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  LinkedIn’s 2012 data breach is now set to have affected more than 100 million users. They have been asked to change their account passwords ASAP.
  
  
• Initially it was assumed that hackers were able to compromise user credentials of over 6.5 million users, but those numbers are now exponentially higher than previously thought.

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  The hacker, who goes by the name “Peace,” was trying to sell the passwords on the dark web for 5 bitcoin, or about $2,200, according to reports.
  
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  The company is currently working to determine the number of users and their passwords who are now vulnerable to cyber attacks or data theft.
  
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  Cybersecurity experts say news like this should serve as a reminder that passwords should be changed frequently, ideally every few months.
  

(With agency inputs)