When the news came out this week that 6.5 million LinkedIn passwords had been hacked and put online, I did not really think about it. There are over 150 million LinkedIn accounts out there, I hardly ever use LinkedIn and I never click on spam or phishing mails (I think), so I figured there was only a small chance my account would be among the hacked ones.
Well, that was not the case it seems. You can test whether your account was compromised here, and if you get the message that I got it’s time to get a new password asap. And if you use the same passwords for other accounts, better change them there as well.
I don’t really use LinkedIn and had a password that I don’t use for other accounts, so it’s not a very big deal. But if you are hacked and used the same password for more than one account you may be in for some nasty surprises. Better be safe than sorry and change your password for all these accounts right away.
Interesting, but by providing your password into that form aren’t you just qualifying their hashes?
Hashes are oneway and typically useless (unless forced); however, when you put your password in here – they are able to use very standard hash algorithms to create a hash they have in their “hacklist” and if it matches; then they can actually go and try and hack the accounts that match.
Typically it’s better practice to just change your password and not interact with any one else.
Yes, you are right Trent, good point. Best is to first change your password before even putting it in.