LinkedIn aims to boost site engagement with Newsle purchase

LinkedIn has just agreed to purchase alerts service Newsle for an undisclosed amount in order to boost the ability to track its users outside the website. It would also help users find out what other users are doing on LinkedIn. This acquisition seems in line with LinkedIn trying to bolster users’ engagement with their site.

“For example, knowing more about the people in your network—like when they’re mentioned in the news—can surface relevant insights that help you hit your next meeting with them out of the park,” said LinkedIn spokesman Ryan Roslansky.

Source: CNET

Apply anywhere and on any device with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is making it easy for you to apply for your dream job even when you’re on the go with the site’s new Apply button that appears on its new iOS and Android apps and on its mobile web version. This new Apply feature helps provide a simpler application process for job seekers and takes less than a minute to complete. You can check the blog post on the announcement for more information.

LinkedIn update for BlackBerry 10

LinkedIn just released a 10.1.4 for its BlackBerry 10 app. Some of the new features include more content on your Home Stream, automatic refreshing to keep your content up to date, LinkedIn updates instantly appear on your BBM profile, and improved search capability.

LinkedIn hacked, 6.5 million passwords stolen

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Professional social networking website LinkedIn was reported hacked today with over 6.5 million user passwords taken. All LinkedIn users should change their passwords as soon as possible.

Reports of a Russian hacker breaching the site's security, taking the passwords and putting them up.  A report from The Verge states, "the user uploaded 6,458,020 hashed passwords, but no usernames. It's not clear if they managed to download the usernames, but it's likely that both have been downloaded.There is a possibility that this could be a hoax, but several people have said on Twitter that they found their real LinkedIn passwords as hashes on the list."

If you are a LinkedIn user and want to verify if your password has been compromised, this website is a good place to start. 

For it's part, LinkedIn posted the following on its website.

We want to provide you with an update on this morning’s reports of stolen passwords. We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation and here is what we are pursuing as far as next steps for the compromised accounts:

1. Members that have accounts associated with the compromised passwords will notice that their LinkedIn account password is no longer valid.
2. These members will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords. There will not be any links in this email. Once you follow this step and request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.
3. These affected members will receive a second email from our Customer Support team providing a bit more context on this situation and why they are being asked to change their passwords.

It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously. If you haven’t read it already it is worth checking out my earlier blog post today about updating your password and other account security best practices.