LinkedIn Hacked: How to Change Your Password

6.5 Million LinkedIn Passwords Stolen

LinkedIn has been hacked. So, for the first time in months, you should login to your LinkedIn account, just to change your password.

Here's how to change your LinkedIn password:

1. Go to your username in the upper right of the screen, and select Settings
2. Go to the lower left and click Account
3. The tab will reveal a Change Password option to the right
4. Choose a new password that's a bit more upbeat than these
   

Photos

LinkedIn Hacked: Change Your Password

see larger image

uploaded by NowPublic Staff

This is what happened: 6.5 million encrypted LinkedIn passwords (one of which could be yours) were posted to a Russian hacker site by those who stole them, the password-nappers want to crowdsource the cracking effort. So far, around 300,000 LinkedIn passwords have already been cracked.

LinkedIn has around 150 million users. What makes LinkedIn an attractive target is the  nature of its user base: network-hungry professionals, as opposed to duckfacing teens.

While only the passwords were publicly posted, it's fair to presume that other account details were compromised as well.

At least LinkedIn uses some degree of encryption for its passwords: it did no such thing with any meeting notes you take with the LinkedIn iPhone app. Those notes are sent back to LinkedIn as plaintext. Oops.