
Most significantly, recycled old data is not included in the data that was disclosed in this hack. The majority of the credentials are recently obtained and very hacker-usable, according to reports from forbes and Cybernews. Millions of users are consequently at risk of cybercrime, such as account hijacking, phishing, and identity theft. While the news is certainly alarming, you can check if your account has been exposed in this breach or any previous one.
How to check if your account has been exposed?
The website Have I Been Pwned is one way to find out. Troy Hunt, a cybersecurity expert, maintains the free platform. The website gathers information from hundreds of breaches and lets users check if they have been compromised by entering their password or email address.
To check your credentials-
- Visit the site https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and enter your email address in the search bar.
- Click on "pwned?" to see if your email appears in any known breaches.
- Use the "Passwords" tab to check if any of your commonly used passwords have been exposed.
What if your data has been compromised?
Here are some things you should do right away if you discover that your credentials or email address were compromised:
Immediately change your password for the impacted service.
Make sure to update your password on any platforms where you have previously used it.
To create strong and one-of-a-kind passwords, you can also utilize a password manager such as google Password Manager.
Additionally, to further secure your accounts, turn on two-factor authentication (2FA).
You can even utilize passkeys, which use biometric authentication and are therefore more secure than regular passwords.