1390518392-300pxApplies to: Everyone

In this how-to guide we show you one simple trick to be the first to know when (yes, when!) companies lose your account details.
There are lots of companies which have lost data over the years, some you may never have heard of like 000webhost (a website hosting company, they lost 13 million records) and some you might know like Adobe who lost 153 million passwords, email addresses and usernames!

But how can I know if my account was leaked?

Head over to https://haveibeenpwned.com and fill in your e-mail address. You will instantly be shown if your email was involved in any of the leaked data the site knows about. It’s free!

Then click on where it says “Notify Me when I get pwned” and you will receive a conformation email, just click on the confirm link…

…when new leaked data is loaded into the site, and it matches your email address, you will get an email explaining what has happened.

https://haveibeenpwned.com

What if my email shows as hacked or pwned as they call it?

Don’t panic. Change your password on the affected websites, and anywhere else you used the same password.

This is the alert I get for my email address:
pwned

You can see that 4 websites have leaked my email and password. Just under this message it shows you the websites involved…

The advice is to change your password on these sites, and anywhere else you have used the same password.

You should use different passwords for every website.

Please don’t use 123456 or any of the other worst passwords (scroll down the page a bit to see the list).

Can I trust this website?

Yes, absolutely, it doesn’t ask for anything other than your email address and it is run by a Microsoft Valued Professional. The head of the Government-backed online safety resource Get Safe Online says it’s a “stark reminder to many” of the need to protect yourself online.

As ever, if you have any questions please drop me a message in the comments below or on The Clubroom.
Stay Safe
Mike