LinkedIn Users Worldwide Targeted in a Massive Hacking Campaign

In recent weeks, LinkedIn account holders across the world found themselves being targeted by unknown threat actors. Their LinkedIn accounts were either locked out as a part of security measure or were completely taken over by the hackers.

Security researchers at Cyberint have reported that they have seen an uptick in user complaints across various social media platforms. Desperate users have vented their anger against LinkedIn’s lack of support to resolve this issue.

Moreover, the research team claims to have seen an increase in searches related to LinkedIn support and advice for solutions regarding hacked accounts. For instance, the term ‘’breakout’’ alone has witnessed an increase of over 5000% in searches.

‘’Our analysis using Google Trends reveals a significant surge in the past 90 days in the volume of Google searches related to the hacked account campaign. Search queries such as “LinkedIn account hacked” or “LinkedIn account recovery” have experienced a substantial upward trend, reported Cyberint researchers.

In this instance, the attackers seem to have employed two different modes of attack. The Temporary Account Lock tactic, in which the attacker has tried to breach accounts by exploiting two-factor authentication or brute force attacks on passwords. These attempts caused LinkedIn to temporarily lock legitimate users’ accounts and for security reasons they need to verify their emails and update passwords.

If successful, under the second mode of attack (Full Account Compromise), a victim’s account can be completely taken over by the attacker. The account associated email and password is changed, thus rendering it impossible for the legitimate owner to recover the account.

According to the researchers, some account holders have also received ransom messages asking for a few tens of dollars, to regain access. While others have seen their accounts deleted entirely.

This incident can lead to a significant increase in threat attacks like blackmail, social engineering of profiles, data gathering via impersonation, and spread of malicious content, warned Cyberint.

Although the specific intent of the attackers remains unknown, few potential methods employed by them to gain access to LinkedIn accounts have been identified. Users are advised to reset their LinkedIn passwords and also enable 2FA for improved security.