Today everything can be accessed over the internet. With that access, however, also comes the risk of your information getting hacked. LinkedIn, an employment and networking media site, faced this issue a month ago when 6.5 million member passwords were leaked online. The company is now facing a $5 million lawsuit brought by a user of the site who claims LinkedIn deceived customers by having a security policy in contradiction of accepted industry standards for database security. The suit alleges that through its privacy policy, LinkedIn promises that all information provided by users will be protected with industry standard protocols and technology and they violated that by not using security measures accepted in the industry. The suit is seeking class action status.

LinkedIn has been defending its security practices. The company has stated that no member accounts were actually breached as a result of the passwords being posted online and they reset the passwords of the accounts that were compromised.

Even though the security breach may not have been the fault of LinkedIn, this problem is not uncommon in today’s technology focused world. The online store Zappos is also facing a lawsuit after customer information was hacked earlier this year.

Although there are many advantages to having everything be more accessible, there is the risk that your information can be compromised.

Here are some tips to help you avoid this from happening:

1. Choose a “hacker-proof” password, meaning the password should be long and contain numbers and letters that are uppercase and lowercase
2. Reset your passwords often
3. Don’t be fooled by fake login screens

For more information about recent legal issues in social media read this blog post.