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LinkedIn Password Check to see if it was compromised

I see that Mashable has announced that LastPass has released a tool to allow users to check if their password was one of those compromised in the recent hack incident.

Being very cynical I wonder why anyone would want to use a tool such as this, since it seem much more sensible to just assume the password has been compromised and change it straight away.

The article suggests, and I tend to agree that the use of a ‘password management tool’ might also be a good idea.  I personally use one to keep track of all the passwords that I use on all the sites I visit.  That way I can use a different (automatically generated) password on each site, and all I have to do is remember the password to get into the password manager, so that I can copy and paste the appropriate password when I need it.  Of course LastPass has released this ‘tool’ to promote sales of its own product, which is very understandable but also is very opportunistic.

I would suggest that rather than use such a tool that LinkedIn user just change this password whether it is compromised or not.  The old saying being ‘Better safe than sorry!’.

LinkedIn password follow-up

Since my previous post  there have been additional reports of hacking into Last.fm and also Dating website e-Harmony (a US-based relationship site) has admitted that a "small fraction" of its users' passwords have been leaked.

Whilst the majority of our readers will not be so interested in the latter, there does seem to be a current spate of web site hacks around.

LinkedIn has said on its blog that it had reset the passwords of the affected users, who would receive an email with instructions on how to set new passwords.


What to do


Security experts have advised users to change their passwords on LinkedIn even if they were changed yesterday. Here's how:

 

  1. Visit www.linkedin.com, and log-in with your details
  2. Once logged-in, hover over your name in the top right-hand corner of the screen, and select 'Settings' from the menu
  3. You may be asked to log-in again at this point
  4. On the next screen, click the 'Account' button which is near the bottom of the page
  5. Under the 'Email & Password' heading, you will find a link to change your password

If you use the same password on other sites, be sure to change those too.

LinkedIn Users note!

I have been watching the unfolding news that details of LinkedIn users and their passwords have been leaked out into the wider web.  The most recent story is here.

I don't (currently) have a link to LinkedIn on my site although I do have an account, and have done for many years.  It seems sensible to at the very least to change your LinkedIn account password ASAP, and check that your information has not been changed, which as least one report I have seen has suggested.

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