If you haven’t seen it yet, LinkedIn issued this statement in relation to the security breach and passwords that have been leaked –
“We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation and here is what we are pursuing as far as next steps for the compromised accounts:

  1. Members that have accounts associated with the compromised passwords will notice that their LinkedIn account password is no longer valid.
  2. These members will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords. There will not be any links in this email. Once you follow this step and request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.
  3. These affected members will receive a second email from our Customer Support team providing a bit more context on this situation and why they are being asked to change their passwords.

It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases.”
It’s a good idea now to remind ourselves of the general good practice that we can all adopt around our social media profiles – again, here are LinkedIn’s words on the subject:
“Here are some account security and privacy best practices that we recommend for our members:
Changing Your Password:

  • Never change your password by following a link in an email that you did not request, since those links might be compromised and redirect you to the wrong place.
  • You can change your password from the LinkedIn Settings page.
  • If you don’t remember your password, you can get password help by clicking on the Forgot password? link on the Sign in page.
  • In order for passwords to be effective, you should aim to update your online account passwords every few months or at least once a quarter.

Creating a Strong Password:

  • Variety – Don’t use the same password on all the sites you visit.
  • Don’t use a word from the dictionary.
  • Length – Select strong passwords that can’t easily be guessed with 10 or more characters.
  • Think of a meaningful phrase, song or quote and turn it into a complex password using the first letter of each word.
  • Complexity – Randomly add capital letters, punctuation or symbols.
  • Substitute numbers for letters that look similar (for example, substitute “0? for “o” or “3? for “E”.

A few other account security and privacy best practices to keep in mind are:

  • Sign out of your account after you use a publicly shared computer.
  • Manage your account information and privacy settings from the Profile and Account sections of your Settings page.
  • Keep your antivirus software up to date.
  • Don’t put your email address, address or phone number in your profile’s Summary.
  • Only connect to people you know and trust.”

 
You can read LinkedIn’s full article on the security breach and leaking of passwords here