How to check if your password has been compromised.

VTC News•11/11/2023

Passwords and personal data are extremely valuable assets in the digital age. Most sectors now utilize personal data, especially the financial sector. However, the number of personal account breaches and leaks online is increasing.

If your data is stolen, it could be used for malicious purposes or sold to those who want to buy it. Therefore, personal data, especially passwords, needs to be protected to the maximum extent.

To find out if your password has been compromised, you can follow the instructions below to check if your password has been leaked online.

How to check if your password has been compromised.

National Cybersecurity Monitoring Center

The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) is the technical focal point for monitoring and supporting information security for citizens, businesses, and the information systems of the Party and State, as stipulated by regulations.

To check if your account has been compromised, you can use the NCSC's "Account Information Leak Checker" tool. Enter your email address and click the search button to see if your information has been leaked.

However, if you have many accounts to check, using this tool can be quite time-consuming.

Check for suspicious activity.

It wouldn't be a problem if you used strong passwords and changed them regularly, along with many other security measures. Conversely, data breaches are very easy to happen, and if you're not careful, your passwords could be stolen at any time.

Check for suspicious account activity if you suspect a password breach.

Start by checking your accounts for anything suspicious. Every service (Facebook, Google, Slack, Telegram, Tinder, etc.) has an activity history so you can review your recent login activity.

If you suspect someone has logged into your account from another location, check if you're using a VPN. Similarly, if you receive an email notification about a password change or anything similar, double-check that you did so to detect any password breaches in a timely manner.

The drawback of this method is that it's quite manual and time-consuming, especially if you have multiple accounts for different websites and services.

Use a password manager.

Another effective solution for detecting whether a password has been compromised is to use a password manager. Besides its primary function of securely storing and managing passwords and user data, most popular password managers also allow users to monitor the security status of their passwords.

Lockers are one of the effective solutions for detecting compromised passwords.

Locker alerts you to compromised accounts by scanning the dark web and warning you about compromised accounts/passwords resulting from data breaches. Locker checks every account stored in its database, saving you time and effort.

Furthermore, because Locker constantly scans dark web pages, the application can detect compromised passwords and alert you as quickly as possible. Therefore, using Locker will help you be more proactive in protecting your passwords and accounts from data leaks.

What can I do to keep my account and password secure?

To minimize the risk of data leaks and proactively detect compromised passwords in a timely manner, you should use 2FA security to add an extra layer of protection to your account.

In addition, you should use a password manager to manage passwords, keep your data secure, and monitor for data leaks. Also, avoid using the same password for multiple accounts.

Securing your computer by regularly checking and scanning for viruses, avoiding downloading software and applications from unknown sources, and refraining from accessing unfamiliar websites are also effective ways to protect your password.

Finally, users should be cautious about public Wi-Fi. In particular, avoid making money transfers using public or free Wi-Fi. These connections are often insecure and leave users vulnerable to data breaches.

THANH TÙNG (Compiled)

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