According to a report by Cyber News, the personal information of 500 million LinkedIn users is for sale online in a hacker forum. A LinkedIn spokesperson confirms to Business Insider that a large amount of LinkedIn account data is included, including phone numbers, location information, and email addresses. No financial data, such as credit card information, was leaked.
On the hacking platform, service providers say they have data of 500 million users. As a “sample,” the group behind it has already leaked 2 million of this data. It is not clear if it is a new leak with recent profiles or data from previous leaks. Service providers also say they use tools built into the service to gather and compare information.
As with previously leaked Facebook data, the fraudster may misuse the phone number and other personal details to obtain money or other valuable information from the victim, among other things. Unfortunately, victims could not do much to correct the leak. Flemish ethical hacker Inti De Ceuckelaire explained earlier that many copies of these data breaches often circulate online.
“From now on, be extra careful when answering anonymous phone calls from foreign numbers or suspicious messages,” he advises. Messages can come via WhatsApp, among other things. Suspicious phones and messages can be reported Safe on the web.
