Are your passwords on the dark web? How to check what leaked after a data breach

If your personal data has been compromised, you often won’t learn about it until T-Mobile, Facebook, Marriott, DoorDash, LinkedIn or any other company you’re trusted with your information notifies you about a data breach. By that time your birthday, Social Security number, credit card number, health records or other data will have already been exposed or stolen.

Any stolen personal information that leads data thieves to your identity can let hackers do everything from making purchases and opening up credit accounts in your name, to filing for your tax refunds and making medical claims, all posing as you. What’s worse, billions of these hacked login credentials are available on the dark web, neatly packaged for hackers to easily download for free.

You can’t stop sites getting hacked, but you can take a few steps to check if your information may be compromised and to limit the damage done from a breach. If you use a password manager that creates unique passwords, you can ensure that if one site gets breached, your stolen password won’t give hackers access to your accounts on other sites. A good password manager can also help you manage all your login information, making it easy to create and then use unique passwords.

 

continue reading »