LinkedIn Breach

You should have received an email about the LinkedIn breach a few weeks ago.

What does it mean?

LinkedIn was hacked back in 2012 and user names and passwords were stolen. The hacker sat on this information for four years and then posted them online this May.

LinkedIn forced a password reset for those users who hadn’t changed their password since 2012. And they have improved their security.

However if you reused this password for any other accounts you are at risk.

In fact, Facebook and Twitter reset passwords for users they deemed at risk from this breach.

Not just LinkedIn

In the last four weeks alone, Tumblr and MySpace reported their databases were hacked as well.

More notorious recent database hacks include Sony Playstation and Ashley Madison.

How do you protect yourself?

Don’t reuse the same password over and over again.

If you need help with this, get a password manager like LastPass. Good password managers can generate secure and unique passwords for all of your accounts.

LastPass will even examine your existing passwords and determine if you’ve reused the password and check how secure and complex the password is.

I think people reuse passwords because it is too difficult to create complex passwords and remember them for all the accounts you have as a small business owner.

Invest in a password manager.