Protecting the keys is essential
For everything to work properly we must preserve the safety of our equipment. Whenever we connect to the network we can be attack victims, as we have mentioned. This can affect our own privacy and expose personal data.
Especially if we talk about passwords we must perfect security to the maximum. It would be a mistake to use simple passwords that do not have adequate security measures. This would allow a hypothetical attacker to enter and steal information with which to profit.
Therefore we can say that protect passwords it is going to be something very important. It is in our hands to generate a key that is strong and complex. It should contain letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and other symbols. All this in a random way and it must also be unique.
However, at any given time we can suffer problems that do not depend solely on us. Maybe that social network in which we are registered or that bank account with which we make payments have had some type of leak. User data can be exposed on the network and this also includes passwords. That’s where an online tool like Have I Been Pwned comes into play.
How Have I Been Pwned works
We can say that Have i been pwned it works as a database where users can check if their personal data has been leaked online. Not only does it act to see if our access codes have been stolen, but also email addresses, names, phone numbers …
Today our personal information they can be used for many different purposes. They could include us in spam campaigns, send personalized phishing attacks and many methods that require knowing certain information about the victim in order to be more likely to be successful.
This service is responsible for showing leaks that may have been on the network. For example, let’s say a database of a streaming video platform has suffered an attack or vulnerability and all this has been made public on the Internet. Anyone could access user passwords, email, etc. What Have I Been Pwned does is indicate to that user, through the database, that their e-mail or password may have been exposed.
Therefore we can say that from the beginning this Internet service was created with the intention that users can see if their information has been leaked. When a problem appears in a social network or any service that we use, we will be able to know if we have been one of the users who have been affected.
Users can get notices
Keep in mind that we can not only enter Have I Been Pwned and find out if our email or password has been leaked. It also has the possibility that we register and mark the option to launch an alert, a warning, in case we have been victims of this problem.
This is important to be aware at all times and to know that our accounts have been compromised. As we have mentioned, not everything depends on us, on how well we protect our equipment or the access code we choose; on many occasions vulnerabilities arise that cause that data to be exposed.
Continuous monitoring
We should also mention that many databases and leaks are first reported to those responsible for that site and also linked to platforms like Have I Been Pwned, before it becomes publicly known and hackers can take advantage of it.
This means that, by using these types of services and even registering to obtain notices, we can change Password or solve the problem before it is too late and we can be victims of a cyber attack that takes advantage of our information.
Have I Been Pwned’s goal is to act quickly
Without a doubt, the main objective of Have I Been Pwned is that users, potential victims of security breaches, can act as soon as possible. We especially talk about passwords and their possible filtration so that third parties can access the account.
If we are aware that we have suffered an attack, we can quickly choose to change the access code for a new one. This will cause that, in case an attacker has access to that database that has been leaked, they will find that the password no longer works. It is very important to be alert for this reason and generate new keys as soon as possible.
Using Have I Been Pwned
Using Have I Been Pwned is very simple. The first thing we have to do is enter their website and there we will meet different options. At first a screen will appear where we will see a bar to put the email or phone number.
This will allow us to know if our address or telephone number has been compromised. They may be part of a database that has been leaked due to an error in a service or platform where we are registered.
We can also know the same but regarding our passwords. To do this we have to click above, in the menu, in the Passwords section. The operation is exactly the same: we have to put a password, whatever it is, and give “pwned?” and it will automatically tell us if that password is secure or has been leaked.
In our case, as an example, we have put the password “123456”, which is logically a very exposed and not at all secure password. It tells us that it has been leaked many times and recommends us to change it as soon as possible. If the password were secure, a green message would appear indicating that it is not exposed.
Therefore, Have I Been Pwned is a very interesting online service that we can use in our day to day to improve security. It helps us find out if our passwords and personal data have been leaked online.
