
The individuals ultimately responsible for the illegal data extraction used so many different tactics to evade LinkedIn’s security measures, that the company believes they must have been aware of the various restriction levels built into the site’s technology. Not only do these practices violate LinkedIn’s User Agreement, they also break state and federal laws relating to cyber-fraud (and possibly copyright laws, as well), making this infraction a pretty big deal. However, the botnet behind this case may very well be a “zombie army” made up of unsuspecting individuals’ computers, which have been infected by a virus or otherwise compromised. So, even if the physical infrastructure is taken out, unless the actual hackers are caught, they could, theoretically, pull off such a scheme again. LinkedIn has already disabled the fake profiles and implemented additional security measures on its site. Given the extensive usage of its networking tools amongst today’s professionals and recruiters, though, LinkedIn’s engineers (and those of other companies like it) certainly have their work cut out for them in terms of making their systems more secure; after all, malicious technology advances right along with the more honorable kind.