The recent security breach has made a big dent in the reputation of social networking site LinkedIn, which is still struggling to determine the real extent of the breach.
Hackers breached the cyber security of the site and slipped with millions of account passwords. They even leaked 6.46 million account passwords online.
A spokesperson for LinkedIn admitted that the security breach affected millions of accounts, and added that the company was contacting the owners of the affected accounts, starting with those who were at the greatest risk. She was not capable to provide any further details.
The stolen passwords were hashed but the site hadn’t taken any concrete measure to strengthen the algorithm’s security, a process that is technically known as salting.
The breach prompted many to suggest that the site might have foreseen a security issue if it had a chief information security officer.
Hemanshu Nigam, CEO of security consulting firm SSP Blue, said, "Companies like this survive because of their reputation. People need to make a decision: 'Can I trust them with my data or not?'"
LinkedIn is always an alluring target data thieves as the site stores important information about millions of professionals, including recognized business leaders.
However, the breach hasn’t appeared to upset investors’ confidence. Stock in LinkedIn gained 2.6 per cent to $96.26-a-share on Friday.