LinkedIn thinks your security is worth about a dollar

LinkedIn has agreed to pay premium subscribers whose passwords were leaked three years ago and posted on a Russian hacker site what amounts to about $1 per affected user.

In June 2012, hackers posted 6.5 million passwords for the part-social network, part-jobs platform on a Russian website. The company will pay out a settlement of $1.25 million to customers after a lawsuit claimed LinkedIn LNKD, +0.03% security was subpar. About 800,000 people in the U.S. who paid for LinkedIn premium accounts are eligible to file claims, according to the New York Times.

Also see: 10 things LinkedIn won’t tell you

The company told the Times it will offer customers the funds “to avoid the distraction and expense of ongoing litigation.” The settlement also says LinkedIn will use stronger data security practices “for at least five years.”

LinkedIn’s premium accounts run from $29.99 monthly for upgrades such as job-hunting services to $119.95 for “recruiter lite features,” such as the ability to track candidates for open roles. People can submit claims up to $50 from the settlement online. So while the math works out to about $1 per premium user, if every person who is eligible for a claim doesn’t end up applying by the May 2 deadline, they could get more than $1 from the $1.25 million pot.

Published: Feb 28, 2015 9:56 a.m. ET