Data breach checking
A data breach checker cross-references your email against lists of accounts exposed in known hacks and tells you if it showed up in any of them.
How it works
- The service keeps a database of emails (not plain-text passwords) that appeared in publicly disclosed breaches.
- Typing in your email checks whether that address is in the database and in which breaches specifically.
What to do
- Only use the official site haveibeenpwned.com to check your email — never type your email and password together into a third-party site promising to "check for leaks".
- If your email shows up in a breach, change the password for that specific service and anywhere else you reuse the same password.
- Turn on two-factor authentication for your most important accounts (email, bank, social media).
Cuidado
Careful
De onde vem o dado
Where this comes from
Why an email shows up in a breach even without any fault of yours
A data breach is a problem on the side of the service that stored your data, not necessarily something you did wrong. Your email could have been signed up years ago on a site that was later hacked, even if you never used that account again.
The real damage is not the email itself (it is usually already public) — it is the password or other data tied to it. That is why the most important action after a breach is changing the password, especially if you reuse it elsewhere.
Glossário: os termos desta página
Data breach
An event where account information (emails, passwords) from a service is exposed or stolen and ends up circulating publicly.
Two-factor authentication
Requiring, besides the password, a second proof of identity (phone code, physical key) to sign in to an account.
Technology glossary — todos os 11 termos.