Change Your LinkedIn Password
It’s being reported that LinkedIn, the uber-popular business networking site, has had more than 6 million passwords leaked. A Russian forum user has claimed responsibility for the leak, saying he hacked the site and uploaded the encrypted passwords as proof. This had yet to be confirmed. According to CNET, Twitter users have reported seeing their passwords on the list.
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LinkedIn has only addressed the issue by tweeting that it's looking into the reports of stolen passwords. Normally, with the use of SHA-1, a cryptographic hash function, passwords on the site are very secure. However, it seems that some passwords were stored without the string of random characters -- known as salt -- that comes before hashed passwords in coding for security purposes. This comes on the heels of reports that the site violated user privacy by storing calendar information through its mobile app.
Whether this is a big deal or not, let it serve as a reminder to change your password with some frequency, it never hurts. Also, if you use that password for any other site, you might want to change that, too.
Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
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