Hackers are taking over LinkedIn profiles – what can you do?

A recent investigation by the security firm Symnatec has uncovered that hackers are creating fake profiles on the social networking site LinkedIn in an effort to scam users.

LinkedIn was established in 2003 and is a social networking site used by over 400 million professionals worldwide as an online form of business networking.

As well as allowing businesses to connect with each other, it is also provides a reliable way for recruiters to headhunt potential employees by sending them ‘connection requests’ which allow them to be able to send each other messages – a feature which hackers are now believed to be exploiting.

“Most sophisticated spyware” discovered by Symantec

One of the most sophisticated pieces of computer spyware ever seen has been discovered by the leading computer security company, Symantec.

The bug goes by the name Regin and has been dubbed “super-spyware”. It was probably created by a government according to Symantec, due to how sophisticated it is. They believe it would have taken years to create and that it has probably been used for about six years, since at least 2008, against a range of targets around the world. The fact that it has remained hidden for so long is an illustration of the great lengths its creators have gone to in order to keep it hidden.