LinkedIn says it's working to combat Chinese espionage activity targeting users of the online career network. The Microsoft-owned service said Friday it's partnering with U.S. law enforcement agencies after uncovering fake LinkedIn profiles and other fraudulent activity. Reuters reported Friday that William Evanina, who directs the U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, says the U.S. government informed LinkedIn about China's "super aggressive" efforts to contact members on the site, apparently for the purpose of spy recruitment. LinkedIn said earlier in August it found accounts were being misused to connect with LinkedIn members who work at political organizations. The company then said in a blog post Tuesday it has reason to believe "nation-state actors" were creating fake accounts. China's foreign ministry told Reuters it disputes Evanina's allegations. … [Read more...] about LinkedIn says it’s working to combat Chinese spy accounts
U.S. accuses China of ‘super aggressive’ spy campaign on LinkedIn
WASHINGTON - The United States' top spy catcher said Chinese espionage agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets, and the company should shut them down. William Evanina, the U.S. counter-intelligence chief, told Reuters in an interview that intelligence and law enforcement officials have told LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft Corp., about China’s "super aggressive" efforts on the site. He said the Chinese campaign includes contacting thousands of LinkedIn members at a time, but he declined to say how many fake accounts U.S. intelligence had discovered, how many Americans may have been contacted and how much success China has had in the recruitment drive. German and British authorities have previously warned their citizens that Beijing is using LinkedIn to try to recruit them as spies. But this is the first time a U.S. official has publicly discussed the challenge in the United States and indicated it is a … [Read more...] about U.S. accuses China of ‘super aggressive’ spy campaign on LinkedIn
LinkedIn will allow economics researchers to mine its data
Once, Facebook allowed academic researchers access to its data. We know how that story ends: with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Now LinkedIn, the professional social networking site owned by Microsoft, says it will open its vast trove of data to academic researchers. But the company, whose chief data officer, Igor Perisic, made the announcement in a blog post Monday, said it's putting controls in place to protect user privacy.The data will be restricted to only those whose academic proposals have been approved. The researchers will only have access to aggregate, anonymized data and will only be able to use it within a secure "sandbox," Perisic wrote. That means they won't be able to download the data themselves.The academics will not be able to "obtain or retain data beyond the scope of the research project," LinkedIn said. Its legal and security teams will vet all proposals to access the data, and only projects related to "economic opportunity with an eye toward enabling a … [Read more...] about LinkedIn will allow economics researchers to mine its data
A former LinkedIn VP who’s hired 3,000 people says if you hate networking, you’re probably doing it wrong
If you hate networking, you’re probably going about it the wrong way. Steve Cadigan, who was LinkedIn’s VP of Talent before he founded his own firm Cadigan Talent Ventures in 2012, tells Business Insider that, while networking is not optional in today’s job market, it’s also not at hard as it seems. People tend to envision networking as attempting to make small talk with a bunch of strangers at a cocktail party, he says, which is a mistake. “Don’t visualise the cocktail party,” Cadigan says. “Even if you’re an extrovert, no one likes going somewhere where they don’t know a single person. It’s awkward. To me, it’s like a blind date. How often does that work? It’s like the lottery.” Cadigan says that it’s also a mistake to think about networking as simply going out and exchanging business cards with strangers. For Cadigan, the best approach to networking is cultivating connections you already have. … [Read more...] about A former LinkedIn VP who’s hired 3,000 people says if you hate networking, you’re probably doing it wrong
Move over LinkedIn, Facebook wants to be the place to find a mentor
Facebook is gearing up to mine what it sees as a massive opportunity to engage its users by offering mentorship through its Groups channel. “Last year, the team worked with a couple of nonprofits,” says Gabe Cohen, Facebook’s product manager for Mentorship. In November 2017, the social network announced the new tool as a pilot program, and now they are rolling it out in earnest. This is not to be confused with the partnership between Facebook’s Workplace and Ten Thousand Coffees that also debuted a mentorship matching feature recently. The startup is using Facebook’s Workplace to integrate its services to its client companies looking to match mentees with mentors within the organizations. The pilot began with iMentor (for education) and The International Rescue Committee (for crisis recovery). From the outset, Facebook was eyeing expansion into other areas like addiction recovery and career advancement, according to Cohen. And he’s quick to … [Read more...] about Move over LinkedIn, Facebook wants to be the place to find a mentor