Numerous LinkedIn accounts have been hacked in recent weeks. Profiles were taken over without boo or ba or simply deleted. Meanwhile, the platform itself remains remarkably quiet.

LinkedIn is under attack in several ways. A number of profiles on the platform have been hacked and their account taken over or deleted, this is one. A second way is from the affected profiles themselves, who are not immediately happy with the way LinkedIn is handling it handles.

damage done

There are two major forms of damage that the attacks have already done:

• Less secure accounts were taken over or simply deleted, in the first case sometimes, but not always, a ransom was demanded
• More secure accounts (good password, multi-factor authentication) have been suspended by LinkedIn for suspicious activity, owners are now struggling to regain access to their profiles

The e-mail address applies to the purchased accounts changed to that of the Russian provider Rambler. In addition, many hacked accounts have now been provided with multi-factor authentication, but unfortunately by the hackers.

motives

There are several ways hackers can use hijacked accounts. The ransom demand mentioned above is one of them, disrupting the platform by simply deleting profiles is another.

However, attackers also have more active options. Since LinkedIn is a platform that is primarily used professionally, phishing, for example through fake job offers, is a significant threat. Of course, there is still the tried and tested data theft, which unfortunately is still a classic.

professional silence

LinkedIn itself has not yet officially responded, for example, a statement on the overall situation has not yet been published. Measured against the many reports on various other platforms, this also applies to direct communication with affected users or the lack thereof.

Through channels like Reddit and X Users complain about missing information and help on LinkedIn. Most of the complaints are about the support team taking too long to respond, simply a lack of communication, and some users are also wondering how this could have happened in the first place.

If you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to set a new, more complicated password now. LinkedIn allows multi-factor authentication, so make sure you use that too.

It is the second time that owner Microsoft has seen negative coverage of its platform in the news: fears that the Irish Data Protection Commission could impose a hefty fine were voiced back in June. Luckily, LinkedIn still has a bright spot on the various AI integrations, such as the addition of Microsoft Designer and the chatbot that can help you with your copywriting.