Whether you have the strongest or weakest passwords, countless scenarios can leak your password online. It could be a data breach, or you accidentally shared your credentials with a malicious actor through a phishing website.

But how do you tell if your password has been hacked? And what are some of the easiest ways to find that? Here, we share some of the most effortless methods through which you can check if your password has ever leaked online.

Three Ways to Check if Your Password Has Leaked Online

Various security tools, including antivirus solutions and VPNs, now include the ability to monitor data breaches.

So, it is easier than ever to check whether a hacker is using the password. However, it would help if you stuck to a couple of tools or services to check for it.

Note that utilizing more services to give away your account credentials to check can be an additional security risk.

That being said, we give you three easy options to do it yourself:

  • Check for data breaches through Troy Hunt’s website (Have I Been Pwned).
  • Use a password manager to review or check your password health.
  • Check for suspicious activities.

1. Have I Been Pwned

Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) is a trustworthy website to check for data breaches (email, personal information, and passwords). You should read one of our resources to know if you can trust Have I Been Pwned.

Numerous other services rely on the database used by Have I Been Pwned. It is a website run by Troy Hunt, a web security expert. He is popularly known for his work on uncovering data breaches, educating technology professionals, and several other tasks.

You can visit the official Have I Been Pwned website and enter your credentials to know if the password is stolen or not.

have i been pwned

To check for your email, navigate to its homepage. Similarly, you can explore other services/databases available on the website as per your requirement.

The warning notice for it looks like this:

have i been pwned

If you see this for your passwords, you may want to create a new unbreakable password and replace your account credentials.

In addition to HIBP, you can also try other data breach scanners from Keeper Security and similar services.

2. Use a Password Manager

You can use one of the best password managers available to check the health of your passwords. Most of the popular ones let you review the security status of your passwords.

For instance, Dashlane provides dark web monitoring and password health monitoring.

If you use a browser-based password manager, like Google Password Manager, you can also use its password checkup feature to see if your password has been hacked or compromised.

google password manager

3. Check for Suspicious Activities

It does not matter if you use an unbreakable password or regularly change it for security. Everything is prone to a data breach, and your passwords can be sold online to hackers.

And, if you do not remain alert, your strongest password could be lurking around with malicious actors online.

Start by checking your account activities. Every service (Google, Facebook, Slack, etc.) gives you the ability to review your recent sign-in activity.

If you find it with the service or app you use, you should review it to see if you find anything suspicious. It is worth checking if you use a VPN, considering you could think someone else accessed your account from a different location.

Similarly, if you get an official email alert for a password change or anything similar, you should double-check if you did not initiate it.

Protect and Change Your Passwords Regularly

It is best to review and change your passwords regularly. Being proactive will help you minimize any damage with your critical account credentials being leaked online.

Modern security tools and services have made it easier to check stolen passwords in a few minutes. So, it would be best if you did it to stay protected.