Nothing on the Internet is totally secure. Bad things happen and LinkedIn is certainly not immune to hackers. This means you need to change your LinkedIn password from time to time.
Today, news came of a leak of 6.5 million encrypted LinkedIn passwords. Since there are 150 million registered users, there is a chance YOUR password was compromised. Right now, log in to LinkedIn and change your password! In fact, get into the habit of changing your LinkedIn profile every few weeks.
Directions for Changing Your LinkedIn Password
Follow these simple directions to change your LinkedIn password.1. You change your password from the Settings page. To get to the Settings page, simply hover your mouse over your name in the upper right hand corner of the LinkedIn home page and click Settings.
2. Within the Settings page, look in the upper left hand part of the screen for the word Password. Click the Change link right next to it.
3. A new window will pop up. Enter your current password and then enter your new password twice.
4. Click the Change Password button and you are set!
Choosing a Secure Password
Any password that could be found in a dictionary, such as tennis, IS NOT A SECURE password. You see, hackers run dictionary attacks by successively logging in using a word list derived from a dictionary.Why would a hacker want to break into your LinkedIn account? Hackers love email addresses and your LinkedIn connections list is a treasure trove of email addresses they could use for SPAM.
What makes a password secure? Microsoft provides this password reference on their Website:
Complexity. Include letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers. Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often. The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better. However, password hacking software automatically checks for common letter-to-symbol conversions, such as changing “and” to “&” or “to” to “2.”
Variation. To keep strong passwords effective, change them often. Set an automatic reminder for yourself to change your passwords on your email, banking, and credit card websites about every three months.
Choose a strong, secure password with upper and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation symbols. Change your password every few weeks. Let’s foil these hackers!
If you have any questions or comments to this article, please leave me a comment below!
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Donna Serdula
Donna,
Nice work as always. i hope you are doing well. Quick question: i am thinking of upgrading to a pay version of Linked in in order to use it better. what levels are worth paying for?
Thanks
Mike
Hey Mike! My favorite LinkedIn premium plan is their Personal Plus plan. It’s their cheapest plan and one they hide from everyone! Here are the step by step directions on how to upgrade to it: http://64.91.230.168/~linkedin/2011/07/19/linkedin-personal-plus-premium-account/
Of course, before you jump on the Personal Plus plan, you need to ask yourself why you are upgrading. If you are using LinkedIn for sales or recruiting or finding a job, there are plans that are tailored exactly for those needs. If you merely want to use LinkedIn at a slightly higher level, see who’s viewed your profile, and get more search results… the Personal Plus plan should be perfect for you.
Otherwise, check out their upgrade options… http://www.linkedin.com/mnyfe/subscriptionv2