Breach of LinkedIn's Lynda.com Affects 55,000

Ever taken a course on LinkedIn's online education site Lynda.com? We have some potentially bad news.

Lynda.com via PC Mag

As ZDNet reports, a hacker recently gained access to a Lynda.com database containing users' contact information, their learning data and which courses they have viewed. A spokesperson for the Microsoft-owned company confirmed the breach in a statement to PCMag and said LinkedIn has reset the passwords for around 55,000 affected Lynda.com users "as a precautionary measure."

"We're also working to notify approximately 9.5 million Lynda.com users who had learner data, but no protected password information, in the database," the spokesperson added. "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."

Lynda.com offers more than 5,000 courses covering software and Web development, design, business, photography and more. LinkedIn acquired the site in April 2015 for approximately $1.5 billion, according to ZDNet. Then, Microsoft in June acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

PCMag reviewed Lynda.com in September 2015 and called it an "outstanding resource for video-based, online learning, particularly if multimedia software or coding skills are what you need."

Meanwhile, news of the Lynda.com hack comes after Yahoo last week announced a mega-breach affecting 1 billion accounts. The Yahoo hack occurred in August 2013 and compromised names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords and security questions and answers.

Word also spread last week that a hacker breached the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the agency responsible for certifying voting equipment. Fortunately, that breach reportedly happened after Election Day.