In the News
Data exposure hits the professional networking site LinkedIn. In LinkedIn Data Found in Unsecured Databases, Phee Waterfield at InfoSecurity Magazine discusses a data exposure involving about 60 million records of information sourced from LinkedIn. Waterfield states that along with public account information, the exposed data included email addresses though LinkedIn claims a third party exposed such data. Waterfield explains that LinkedIn users can add additional privacy settings on their account to make their email addresses private.
Our Take
LinkedIn is a platform highly utilized by college students and working professionals. While the nature of the platform is to publicize your credentials for professional networking and job hunting, you should only be sharing the information that you choose to share. Everyone wants to keep certain information private, but the nature of online accounts and social media platforms often neglects this desire. Even though most of the exposed information was public, the aggregation of so much data in one spot is unsettling. To keep your information and accounts private, make sure that you selectively choose what to add to your public account, which privacy settings to enable, and with whom to connect. Always make your privacy a top priority.
Recommendations
How can you protect the security and privacy of your accounts?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Use safe password practices, and take advantage of Multi-factor Authentication where possible
- Utilize additional security/privacy measures and settings on apps, accounts, and platforms whenever possible