cybersecurity

Details of 700M LinkedIn users listed for sale on hacker forum

Victor Barreiro Jr.

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Details of 700M LinkedIn users listed for sale on hacker forum
LinkedIn says the data was scraped from its website, and not from a hacking incident

Some 700 million LinkedIn records are currently up for sale on a hacking forum with the uploader, TomLiner, also posting a sample of one million records to prove the claim.

According to a PrivacySharks report, the information in the records included full names, gender, email addresses, phone numbers, and industry information. PrivacySharks is a website offering reviews for VPNs, antivirus software, and email protection and password protection services.

LinkedIn spokesperson Leona Spillman, meanwhile, countered claims it was a data breach, noting it appeared to be a data scraping operation.

Spillman said in a statement, “While we’re still investigating this issue, our initial analysis indicates that the dataset includes 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 private LinkedIn member data was exposed. Scraping data from LinkedIn is a violation of our Terms of Service and we are constantly working to ensure our members’ privacy is protected.”

A statement sent to Rappler on Thursday evening added that the reported dataset “includes the same data reported earlier this year in our April 2021 scraping update.”

The news follows an earlier scraping of 500 million records from LinkedIn.

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Data from 500M LinkedIn users reportedly scraped, for sale online

Data from 500M LinkedIn users reportedly scraped, for sale online

Victims affected by this or other data scraping operations will want to watch out for potential spam campaigns or scams using their information, as well as any potential issues with identity theft.

PrivacySharks also advised that although password and email address combinations are not a part of this recent leak, it would be best to update one’s password and passwords for other online accounts, and enable two-factor authentication. – Rappler.com

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Victor Barreiro Jr.

Victor Barreiro Jr is part of Rappler's Central Desk. An avid patron of role-playing games and science fiction and fantasy shows, he also yearns to do good in the world, and hopes his work with Rappler helps to increase the good that's out there.