On June 6th, a Russian hacker posted 6.5 million passwords from LinkedIn and 1.5 passwords from eHarmony. (Read more.)
You may have already received an eMail from LinkedIn with instructions on how to change your password. LinkedIn also sent updates:
- on their official blog (which has good tips for creating a strong password)
- through Twitter (@LinkedIn and @LinkedInNews).
What You Should Do
Follow these directions from LinkedIn to change your password.
If you used the same password for any other internet sites, change your password for those accounts as well. In fact, instead of using a favorite password everywhere, you now have an opportunity to change these important passwords to make them more unique. (Surprisingly, many of the hacked passwords used “linkedin” as part of the password! If you want to use something in the password to help you remember it, see some more secure suggestions here.)
Because LinkedIn hasn’t indicated that they’ve located where the breach occurred, Forbes recommends making your new password a strong one, don’t use it anywhere else, and be ready to change your LinkedIn password “multiple times.”
Related Articles:
- What You Need to Know about Passwords (this site)
- Too Many Passwords? (How to keep track of them! On this site))
- Google’s advice for strong passwords.
NOTE: The image is originally from Forbes.
