LinkedIn User Data Exposed in a Data Breach

On June 29, 2021, LinkedIn experienced another case of leaked data. An anonymous hacker posted alleged records of 700 million LinkedIn members (92% of the total user base) for sale on a dark website. The posting includes open records on some 2 million people as a sample.

Sample data contains personally identifiable info, including email addresses, phone numbers, geolocation, and even inferred salaries. Fortunately, passwords have not been compromised, but the leaked records are more than enough to target users with phishing attacks or even find them in real life. 

Researchers have confirmed that the information is authentic and recent—from 2020 to 2021.

LinkedIn Security a Liability

Unfortunately, this is not the only data breach LinkedIn experienced this year. The previous one occurred in April when 500 million records were exposed in a similar manner.

LinkedIn denied that the most recent event was a data breach.

In fact, the company stated the records contain info from previous leakages combined with records scraped off other sites. It reiterated the importance the company places on maintaining privacy.

Many are not convinced, though. LinkedIn users express reasonable concerns over identity theft and similar threats and doubt the company’s competence to deal with hackers.

So, what should those who are worried about their data do?

Well, people can start by checking sites like Have I Been Pwned. They can check whether a certain email, phone number, or password were compromised in any known data breaches.

Other preventive measures include password managers—they can both keep track of passwords and generate new ones in case of a leakage.

Identity theft protection software can also warn users about potentially losing more critical data, like social security numbers or credit card details.