LINKEDIN DATA BREACH

Overview of Linkedin data breach

In 2021, a large amount of personal information from LinkedIn users, like emails, job history, and phone numbers, was stolen by automated bots that scraped publicly available profiles. Even though no passwords were taken, the data could be used for scams or fake messages to trick people.

Who were the hackers? (Individuals, groups, state-sponsored)

The hackers were likely a group of skilled criminals, but we don’t know exactly who they were.

What happened?

The hackers broke into LinkedIn and stole about 6.5 million passwords.

When & Where did the attack occur?

The attack happened in June 2012 on LinkedIn's servers in the United States.

Why did they do it? (Money, revenge, politics, etc.)

They wanted to steal passwords to sell them or use them to access other people's accounts.

How was the attack carried out? (Tools, malware, phishing, etc.)

The hackers broke into LinkedIn by using tricks like SQL injection to sneak into its database and taking advantage of weak password hashing to steal user passwords.