Electronics

The best tool to know if your password has been stolen in 2021

One of the main recommendations that computer security experts never tire of repeating is the importance of not reusing passwords. In spite of this, many users use the same password in each new service in which they register. The problem is that if the credentials of a platform are filtered, the rest of our user accounts will have been automatically compromised.

Unfortunately, data leaks are the order of the day , which is why it is important to periodically check that our passwords have not been leaked . In this way, in the event of a security breach in which our personal data has been compromised, we can act quickly, change our password and avoid major problems. At this point, you are probably wondering how to check that your credentials have not been leaked on the Internet.

Have I Been Pwned

The best tool you can use to find out if your password has been stolen is Have I Been Pwned, a website that allows you to check if your email address is part of some of the most recent security breaches.

Without a doubt, one of the biggest advantages of the platform is its simple operation. As soon as we access the web, we will see a search engine that asks for our email address. We just have to enter our email (of course, without the password) to discover the security breaches in which our data has been involved.

In addition to showing us the name of the affected company or service, Have I Been Pwned explains when the security breach occurred and what it consisted of . And not only that, since the data that has been compromised is also specified : email addresses, passwords, user names, geographical location, addresses IP, date of birth, geographic location …

What to do if your password is leaked

If you discover that your password has been leaked, the first thing you should do is change the password on the affected platform. To do this, you will have to log in to the website of the tool and follow the necessary steps to establish a new password.

Of course, in case the compromised password is the same one that you use in other services, you should access these platforms and establish a New Password. The reason is that the attackers could gain access to all these accounts by sharing the same password (remember that they probably already have other information about you, like you email address or username).

When establishing new passwords it is essential to bet on strong passwords. For this, we must avoid the use of names of people, words or relevant dates. Ideally, this should be a completely random combination of characters. This is where the potential of password managers such as 1Password, Lastpass or iCloud Keychain, among others, comes into play.

Receive a notification if your data is stolen

In case you do not want to be visiting the website we talk about every two by three to check if your user data has been filtered, it is likely that you are interested in enabling the notifications function. In this way, the platform will send you an email in case of that your user account is part of a new security breach. You can activate the notifications by clicking on the Notify Me button in the web navigation menu.

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