A new browser tool dubbed ‘Sell Hack’ claims to allow users to hack into LinkedIn’s system and gather the contact information of any LinkedIn user.
The company’s website claims that people who install its plug-in will be able to use the “Hack In” button to view the personal email address of anyone with a profile on the professional network. The free extension is compatible with Chrome, Safari, and the Firefox browsers.
Yahoo Tech, which first reported the issue of Sell Hack, posted screenshots of the “Hack In” button revealing how easy it was to obtain personal information of any LinkedIn member. Sell Hack basically enhances the users’ LinkedIn membership for free, as LinkedIn Premium members have access to email addresses.
LinkedIn, in response to the issue, stated that the company’s legal team is delivering a cease and desist letter to Sell Hack “as a result of several violations.”
Krista Canfield, LinkedIn’s Senior Manager of Corporate Communications, said, “LinkedIn members who downloaded Sell Hack should uninstall it immediately and contact Sell Hack requesting that their data be deleted.”
“We advise LinkedIn members to protect themselves and to use caution before downloading any third-party extension or app. Often times, as with the Sell Hack case, extensions can upload your private LinkedIn information without your explicit consent.”
LinkedIn, in a follow-up message, stated that “Sell Hack is not the result of a security breach, bug or vulnerability. No member data has been put at risk as a result of Sell Hack. LinkedIn is doing everything it can to shut Sell Hack down.”
Sell Hack, in its FAQ, claims its process to be legal and says “The data we process is all publicly available. We just do the heavy lifting and complicated computing to save you time. We aren’t doing anything malicious to the LinkedIn website.”
