LinkedIn announced a new security feature that lets users fight fraudulent accounts and spammers in the app, and that also gives insight into when a profile was created.
The company is now providing users with tools to detect any AI-generated profile pictures and prompts to help protect them from fake accounts and malicious messages, Social Media Today reports.
LinkedIn Aims To Combat Threat Actors To Keep Users Safe
In recent years, LinkedIn has been subjected to fraudulent threat actors that initiate communication with users on the platform in order to steal and abuse personal information.
Among these threat actors is the notorious Lazarus North Korean Hacking group that distributes malware, performs cyber espionage, and commits financial fraud, Bleeping Computer says.
These threat actors execute their crimes by offering fake jobs to seekers on the platform, leading to malware installation and eventually to eventually accessing the target's device.
However, not only are individuals the ones vulnerable to these security threats, but corporate networks and multi-million companies can also suffer cryptocurrency hacks.
In fact, over the past year, two LinkedIn user databases were found being pitched to potential buyers on the dark web, acquired through data scraping, Social Media Today writes.
With the continuous rise of such incidents, LinkedIn updates its security tools to provide a feature that grants extra safety measures on knowing who users should connect with or not.
According to India Today, the company's new About This Profile feature will help users get insight into profiles that may turn out to be fake.
It will let users scan profile pictures to verify them and provide prompts and details to determine when the profile was created and last updated.
Additionally, the new feature will raise red flags that users can check by showing work history and profile update, and this will roll out globally in the coming weeks, India Today claims.
Furthermore, LinkedIn is removing fake user accounts and reported profiles to make the platform safer for users and is providing a more comprehensive verification option available.
Read More: LinkedIn Data Breach 2021 Exposes 700 Million Users: 3 Tips to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
LinkedIn Is Adamant In Fighting Fake Accounts
LinkedIn is actively taking steps to protect users from scammers and fake profiles with its new About This Profile feature that displays account information to verify an account's authenticity.
Through this feature, cyber criminals who use fake personas to interact with users on the platform will have an unrealistic amount of time to maintain and operate their profiles.
In addition, threat actors will now find it more difficult to verify their accounts without a corporate email attached to the impersonated company they are using, according to Bleeping Computer.
This comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned companies of big scams where scammers directly contact users on social media from fake accounts to build fake relationships.
While it is still unclear if the new About This Profile is effective, LinkedIn hopes that this feature will provide users with adequate safety measures from targeted abuse introduced to the platform.
Related Article: Crypto Fraud on LinkedIn Seen as a 'Significant Threat' by the FBI
