A recent report from Check Point Research has unveiled a startling statistic: nearly half of all global phishing attacks involve the impersonation of LinkedIn, the business platform owned by Microsoft.
Scammers often exploit LinkedIn by targeting individuals who are seeking new job opportunities or career changes. While emails with subject lines like "You have 1 new invitation" or "Your profile has been viewed by 63 people" may appear legitimate, it is crucial to verify the sender's email address to confirm its authenticity. These impersonators craft emails that closely mimic genuine LinkedIn communications, directing recipients to fake LinkedIn pages designed to steal their information upon entry.
Cybercriminals also exploit LinkedIn by creating fake profiles and messaging users about job prospects. Once they have engaged their target, they may request a small upfront payment to process the application—money that will never be returned—or provide a link to a form that is, in reality, a phishing link.
LinkedIn is aware of these issues and is actively working to develop advanced security features to protect its users. Here are three security measures that LinkedIn has already implemented:
- Suspicious Message Alerts - LinkedIn's technology can identify messages from individuals trying to direct you away from the platform or communicating inappropriately, and will notify you with a warning.
- Profile Verification - This feature enables you to confirm the authenticity of your page. By providing an extra form of identification, you can obtain a verification badge on your profile, ensuring that anyone who views it knows you are genuine. This is particularly valuable because scammers frequently target new victims and their pages are often quickly shut down, so they rarely keep their information current.
- Profile Information - This feature enables you to view detailed information about someone's profile, assisting you in deciding whether to respond to a message, accept a connection request, trust an offer, and more. To access this information, navigate to your profile, click on "More," and select "About this profile" from the drop-down menu. Here, you'll find details such as:
- When the profile was created
- When the profile was last updated.
- Whether the member has verified a phone number.
- Whether the member has a work e-mail associated with their account.
- AI-Generated Profile Picture Detection - Scammers are leveraging AI to produce realistic profile pictures of fictitious individuals, which they then use to create deceptive profiles aimed at defrauding users. Alarmingly, LinkedIn's research revealed that users typically struggle to visually differentiate between genuine faces and these AI-generated ones. Consequently, LinkedIn collaborated with academic institutions to develop and implement sophisticated detection tools. These features enable LinkedIn to identify AI-generated profile pictures and deactivate the associated profiles before they can cause any harm.
Do you use LinkedIn to find jobs, employees or clients? It's a great resource for business, but it's important to stay secure. However, LinkedIn's features are just the first line of defense. If someone in your organization were to fall for a scam and click a bad link, would your internal security solutions be enough to protect your network?
We can help you find out. We'll do a FREE consultation to help you determine if your network is vulnerable to any type of attack. To book yours, call us at 702-970-3472 or click here to book now.
