NOTICE: Data stored in Lynda.com exposed
Monday, December 19, 2016
Lynda.com is notifying its users that data related to their use of the service has been exposed. The message to users states, "an unauthorized third party breached a database that included some of your Lynda.com learning data, such as contact information and courses viewed."
The university has licensed use of Lynda.com for faculty and staff, and many people have taken advantage of the online courses Lynda.com offers. Anyone who has used the site may have had their Lynda.com usage-related data exposed. This includes name, email address, your U-M affiliation, courses viewed, and progress in those courses.
Your Password Is Not Affected
Your UMICH (Level-1) password was not exposed in this data breach. When you log in to Lynda.com using your UMICH password, your password is not sent to Lynda.com. You are basically logging in to U-M, and U-M passes on assurance of your identity to Lynda.com, not your actual password.
You Do Not Need to Do Anything
According to Lynda.com, "there is no evidence that any of the data has been made publicly available." Users were notified "out of an abundance of caution" and "as a precautionary measure." You do not need to change your password or take any other action because of the data breach.
References
- LinkedIn's Lynda.com suffers database breach (ZDNet, 12/18/16)
- LinkedIn's skill learning unit Lynda.com hit by hack (PC World, 12/19/16)