Skip to main content

Are you a Lynda.com user? You may want to check your email

Hacker
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Another day, another digital breach. The latest victim of a cyberattack is online learning company Lynda.com, a LinkedIn subsidiary, which sent out an email this weekend to certain users to inform them of a database hack that may have compromised their information. Around 9.5 million users received such an email, as the database in question included contact information and courses viewed. While the majority of users’ passwords were not included in the database, a LinkedIn spokesperson told VentureBeat via email, a small percentage weren’t so lucky.

Fewer than 55,000 Lynda users had their passwords stored in this breached database, and the website has since reset their passwords and alerted users to both the hack and the change. But given that compromised passwords were “cryptographically salted and hashed” and no credit card information was included, it could have been more serious.

Recommended Videos

“We have no evidence that any of this data has been made publicly available and we have taken additional steps to secure Lynda.com accounts,” the spokesperson added.

While the timing of the latest hack may make some suspicious that it could be linked to Yahoo’s disclosure of an enormous 2013 hack that compromised some one billion user accounts, LinkedIn has assured concerned parties that there is no connection. But that doesn’t really ease the blow all that much — after all, a hack is a hack.

All the same, Lynda is doing all it can to assuage users’ fears. In its email, the site noted, “Please know that we have no evidence that this data included your password. And while we have no evidence that your specific account was accessed or that any data has been made publicly available, we wanted to notify you as a precautionary measure.”

If you have any questions, Lynda encourages you to contact the company through its Support Center.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Want an RTX 4080? Prices suggest you may as well get a 4090
Four RTX 40-series graphics cards on a black background.

As we get closer to the release date of Nvidia's RTX 4080 16GB, more and more retailers are starting to put the card up for sale. Today, Micro Center revealed the prices of several models of the GPU.

Unfortunately, those who hoped to score a cheap RTX 4080 may need to change their plans. The way the graphics card is priced, you might as well be buying an RTX 4090 instead.

Read more
New COVID-19 phishing emails may steal your business secrets
Woman Checking Her Email

Google Forms are being used as a way to obtain the sensitive information of business owners through COVID-19 phishing emails, according to a new report.

As reported by Bleeping Computer, phishing messages based on COVID-19 have started to become increasingly popular in recent weeks.

Read more
Websites may be logging your email and password without you knowing
A digital encrypted lock with data multilayers.

An extensive study reveals that up to 3% of websites may collect your form inputs even before you ever press "Submit." That's right -- even if you type something and then delete it, these websites will still record your keystrokes and remember the things you chose not to input.

The data, collected without your knowledge and consent, can contain some of the most personal information, that can later be used for various purposes, such as targeted ads.

Read more