The Cost of Data Breach on Linkedin
LinkedIn reports that it lost up to $4 million due to one of the biggest data breaches in 2012.
LinkedIn is understood to have spent between $500k and $1 million on computer forensic investigation work after a number of passwords of the 175 million LinkedIn member’s accounts data were breached.
LinkedIn continued to spend $2 million to $3 million in costs in the current financial quarter toward strengthening the websites security.
LinkedIn’s financial outlook remained strong given the growth and member engagement was the same as prior to the data breach.
The Effect of the Linkedin Data Breach on Users
LinkedIn also confirmed that some of the passwords that had been included in the data breach had been posted online by a suspected hacker and that they corresponded to accounts held by them.
LinkedIn state that since the data breach they have redoubled efforts to increase and ensure safety of accounts on LinkedIn by strengthening passwords and increasing the security of the data and infrastructure.
Since the data breach was identified, LinkedIn has reset the passwords of any accounts that were believed to have been affected.
The passwords that were stolen were encrypted using the SHA-1 hash function that had been created by the National Security Agency.
In addition to this, LinkedIn failed to add additional layers of security such as randomly appending a string of characters, known as salting.
Changes Following the Linkedin Data Breach
New security measures, including salting the passwords, were now reported to have been introduced by LinkedIn.
The owner is able to control the botnet remotely and the term Botnet is a combination of the words ‘robot’ and ‘network’.
Computer Forensic Expert Service
About Athena Forensics
For information on our digital forensic services or if you require any advice or assistance please contact a member of our team on 0330 123 4448 or via email on enquiries@athenaforensics.co.uk, further details are available on our contact us page.
Our client’s confidentiality is of the utmost importance. All correspondence is treated with discretion, from initial contact to the conclusion of any computer forensics investigation.
Our digital forensics experts are fully aware of the significance and importance of the information that they encounter and we have been accredited to ISO 9001 for 10 years.
Our forensic experts are all security cleared and we offer non-disclosure agreements if required. Our premises along with our security procedures have been inspected and approved by law enforcement agencies.
Athena Forensics do not disclose personal information to other companies or suppliers.
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