How I Reclaimed My Hacked LinkedIn Account

Hacked LinkedIn account on a Saturday morning. On a weekend that should have been spent chilling. Picture this: you roll out of bed, do a few stretches to loosen some muscles, check emails, and casually open  LinkedIn, only to be hit with a shocking sight—hacked LinkedIn account! Your profile is now an alternate version of reality. Your job experience? Poof, gone. Your photo? Replaced with a funny face with too much makeup applied to it. And everything is written in Chinese! I've never felt that irritated seeing Chinese characters populating every corner of my LinkedIn profile. And I thought I had all the cyberscecurity loopholes fixed for me!

The Horror Unfolds

It all started on a regular Saturday, just like any other, when I realized my LinkedIn profile had been hijacked. My carefully curated professional history had vanished into thin air, replaced by… nothing. My profile picture had morphed into the ridiculous face of a stranger, and the entire page was now in Chinese. I couldn’t help but feel like I had been thrown into a parallel universe where my career just didn’t exist.

The LinkedIn Hacked Account Recovery Mission

But instead of panicking, I channeled my inner detective and prepared to reclaim my hacked LinkedIn account with a smile (and a pack of chilled lasagna). Here's how the great LinkedIn comeback unfolded:

1.  Activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Step one was enabling 2FA, which added a secret handshake to my LinkedIn login. Now, anyone trying to access my account would need not just my password but also a code sent to my phone. Extra security for the win!

2.  Rebuild My Profile (The Hard Way): With 2FA locked and loaded, it was time to do the painstaking work of manually rebuilding my profile. Think of it as writing my career autobiography from scratch. I reset the language back to English, swapped out the fake photo for my own, and started adding my job experience one by one. Annoying? Yes. But also a fun walk down memory lane. So, that’s goodbye to a hacked LinkedIn account and hello to a better profile.

3.  Create a Stronger Password:  I went full fortress mode with a new, super-strong password, mixing in letters, numbers, and symbols like a hacker-proof cocktail.

Why Did It Happen?

Turns out, I’m not the only one who’s been through this digital nightmare. LinkedIn hacks aren’t just the stuff of tech folklore—they’re a real and present danger. In 2012, there were over 6.5 HackedLinkedIn accounts. Fast forward to 2021, and data from 700 million LinkedInusers was found up for sale on hacker forums. Thankfully, LinkedIn has since beefed up its security, encouraging all of us to enable 2FA and embrace strong passwords like true cyber warriors.

Alright, I did not activate the 2FA before so it must really been that easy to get hold of my account. So, how did my account get caught in this mess? Well, here are a few possible culprits:

• Weak Passwords: I must have clicked a fake link associated with my LinkedIn account so that I practically invited hackers into my profile. 
• Phishing Scams: Those shady emails asking for personal details? Yes, clicking on them can hand hackers the keys to your account.
• Data Breaches: If a site you use gets hacked, and you’ve used the same password for LinkedIn, congratulations—you’ve just given hackers a shortcut to your profile. 

But, really, I am still confused as to how my account got hacked. I have a unique password for LinkedIn and I also did not click on any dubious links. I am planning to do an online activity audit on my laptop to check for any suspicious activities before the Saturday hacking incident. Maybe, this would answer the questions that are still hanging in the air for me. Until then, I am more bent to believe that my hacked LinkedInaccount must have been because of a data breach similar to the 2021 incident. 

And, I should read up on cybersecurity best practices because after this, I feel like I have turned rusty from the core. I keep asking myself what I have missed out and that this happened to me. 

Tips to Avoid Future Hacked LinkedIn Account

To avoid a LinkedIn account from becoming a hacker's next target, follow these tips:

• Enable 2FA: Always add that extra layer of security.
• Use Strong, Unique Passwords: No more reusing passwords across multiple sites.
• Watch Out for Phishing: Be skeptical of suspicious emails and never click on shady links.
• Regularly Update Passwords: Refresh your passwords periodically to stay ahead of hackers.

Reclaiming my hacked LinkedIn account was frustrating, especially since I had to manually type my whole professional experience. But, it taught me a valuable lesson: online security is no joke. So, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, stay calm, enable 2FA, and rebuild your profile like a pro. In the end, every adventure—digital or not—has its highs and lows, and this one was nothing short of a rollercoaster.

Additional  Reminders to Never Lose Data in Case of Hacking

I had a hard time recovering my profile data after it was hacked. So, you might want to do the following to avoid losing information: 

1. Backup Your Data. Whatever article posts or images you post on Social Media. Make sure you have them backed up. Google Drive is a nice tool for your files. 
2. Download Your LinkedIn Profile. This is a very helpful tool in order to have your data safely tucked. Just go to your profile, Click on the Resources Button and choose Save to PDF. 
3. Download Your LinkedIn Videos. You can use ClipGrab for this. ClipGrab is free so you should not have any problems. 
4. Save a Copy of Your Data on LinkedIn. This lets you save all your articles, posts, profiles, connections and recommendations. Select whichever you think is necessary. 

The possibility of losing data is part of our online life. Cybersecurity risks are part of it all. With advanced hacking tools that exploit Artificial Intelligence to find loopholes in cybersecurity measures, it becomes easier for hackers. And once we become victims of these attacks, they can harm our online content in a way we do not expect. The best way to make sure they won't be lost is to do the steps above. No matter how careful and how you follow the rules on online security, sometimes there are people who just know how to get around cybersecurity loopholes. They have advanced tools and when we miss out on important aspects, we become vulnerable. So, to protect yourself further, backup your data and live your lfie online worry-free.