LinkedIn breach asked to disclose data of over 700 million users

LinkedIn has reportedly suffered a massive breach where data from over 700 million users is on sale on the dark web. According to Privacy Shark, the data available on the dark web includes users’ full names, genders, email IDs, phone numbers and industry information. It appears that the account username and password are still protected; However, simply accessing phone numbers and email IDs can result in sophisticated phishing attacks – a common form of cybercrime amid the pandemic. Notably, LinkedIn suffered another cyberattack about two months ago, where data from more than 500 million users was on sale on the dark web. It is currently unclear whether the new breach and the old cyberattack have anything in common. The latest development indicates that 92 percent of LinkedIn’s 756M users have been affected by the breach.

The publication also contacted linkedin, and the company said it was investigating the matter. “While we are still investigating the issue, our preliminary analysis indicates that the dataset contains information scraped from LinkedIn as well as information obtained from other sources. This was not a LinkedIn data breach, and Our investigation has determined that no personal LinkedIn member data was exposed. Scraping data from LinkedIn is a violation of our Terms of Service, and we are working relentlessly to ensure that our members’ privacy is protected ” Or past leaks. Regardless, this means users can still potentially face a cyberattack, and should be vigilant about garbled emails or SMS containing suspicious links.