How To Check If You’ve Had A Data Breach with Your Email

Your email address will link to most of your online activity, including social media, shopping, banking & work accounts.

If the website you’ve registered with has been breached,

Your email address along with your password and personal information can be exposed. Cybercriminals can try to scam you with phishing, gain control of your accounts or try to access other services.

Thankfully there are many tools online that can help you see if your email address has been included in any data breaches.

This guide will teach you how to identify known breaches, what to do next and secure your accounts.

What Is An Email Data Breach?

A data breach is when data has been accessed, shared or obtained without permission.

This could be a shopping site being hacked and customer details including email addresses, passwords, names and contact information being exposed.

These details will often be found through leaked databases or criminals.

An email data breach means that whilst your email may not have been accessed, your email address has been found in the data that was stolen from another website.

However, if passwords or sensitive information has been exposed,

This will cause further concern.

Understanding the difference can help you know what to do.

Why Should You Check If Your Email Has Been Leaked?

Many people have online accounts that they have forgotten about.

You may have signed up to a shopping site you’ve never heard of or a temporary service.

If these sites have had a breach your details could be exposed.

By checking your email for any data breaches,

You can identify any known breaches. From here you can look into the accounts that have been impacted, change any compromised passwords & secure your accounts.

Businesses can use this to educate employees on any credential leaks that could put them at risk.

Knowing your accounts have been exposed can be very useful as cybercriminals often try to use stolen logins.

How To Check If Your Email Has Been In A Data Breach

The easiest way to check if your email has been exposed in a data breach is to use Have I Been Pwned.

Step 1 – Go To Have I Been Pwned

Visit the official website.

This database contains any known data breaches. Enter your email address to check if it has been found.

Make sure you are visiting the correct site.

Step 2 – Enter Your Email

Enter your email address.

You will not need to enter your password.

Never enter your password to any unknown site claiming to check if your account has been hacked.

Step 3 – View Results

After entering your email address you will see if it has been found in any known breaches.

If it has been found you will be able to view the details related to the breach.

If it hasn’t been found it means your email wasn’t found in any breaches.

This does not mean your details haven’t been exposed.

Step 4 – View Impacted Accounts

View any impacted accounts.

Check if you are still using these accounts and if your passwords have been compromised.

Try to focus on any accounts that have sensitive personal, financial or business information.

Checking For Email Breaches With Mozilla Monitor

Mozilla Monitor is another useful tool to check if your email has been in any known data breaches.

Go to monitor.mozilla.org. Sign up or log in.

Mozilla Monitor uses the same data as Have I Been Pwned. Once you have verified your email address you can view any reported breaches.

You will also be shown some advice on how to keep yourself safe.

You can also monitor more verified email addresses (Depending on your account limits).

This can be useful if you have multiple personal, professional & shopping emails.

However, you won’t be able to identify all breaches due to the data available.

What Does It Mean If Your Email Has Been Found In A Breach?

Whilst it can be concerning to see your email found in a breach database, you should consider what information has been exposed.

Sometimes only your email address & usernames would be leaked.

However, sometimes passwords, phone numbers, addresses & other personal information may have been leaked.

Depending on what has been exposed will impact how risky it is.

If passwords have been compromised attackers may try to access your account or use the same password on other sites.

If your email address has been exposed you may see an increase in spam or targeted phishing attempts.

A breach does not mean someone currently has control of your account, but it does mean your data has been exposed. View the details of the breach to identify what actions you need to take to keep yourself safe.

What To Do If Your Email Has Been In A Data Breach

Change Any Compromised Passwords

Change any passwords on any impacted accounts.

Use a strong unique password that hasn’t been used elsewhere.

If you use the same password across multiple accounts change it on all impacted accounts.

Using a password manager can help you generate unique passwords.

Enable Two Factor Authentication

Two factor authentication means that when someone tries to log into your account they will need to verify who they are.

This could be using an authenticator app, security key or other method.

Even if someone has your password it can make it harder for them to access your account. Enable this on any important accounts including your email, banking & business accounts.

Check For Any Unusual Activity

Check if your email provider has a section for viewing recent logins or security activity.

Look for any unusual devices, locations, password changes or recovery information.

If you notice any suspicious activity follow the security guidelines provided by your provider.

You may need to log out of any other sessions, change your recovery information & look into any related apps.

Be Aware Of Phishing

Attackers may try to scam you with believable emails relating to the personal information that has been exposed.

Be wary of any emails requesting you to change your password immediately, verification codes or taking you to an unknown login page.

Always go directly to the relevant service via their website/app.

Never give anyone one-off security codes.

How To Check If Your Gmail Account Has Been Compromised

If you use a Gmail account you can check your security settings.

Go to your Google Account. Click on the Security tab.

Review your recent security activity, devices & tips.

You can also view your saved passwords using Google Password Manager. This can show any compromised or repeated passwords.

This can help you identify any suspicious activity.

However, Google offer separate tools for account security & data breaches.

A data breach search will show you if your email has been found in any breaches. Whereas your account security will help you see what activity is happening with your Google account.

Using both will provide you with a better insight.

Can Hackers Access My Accounts If They Know My Email Address?

Knowing your email address alone won’t allow hackers to access your accounts. Usually they will need further information, a successful phishing attack or a security issue.

Having your email address exposed can still be useful to criminals.

They may try to scam you with targeted scams, guess your password or use your email address along with information they have found from other sources.

This is why it is important to use unique passwords & have two factor authentication enabled.

Even if your email address has been exposed you can greatly reduce the risk of someone accessing your accounts by securing your accounts.

How To Avoid Future Email Security Issues

Whilst you can’t personally prevent companies from having data breaches you can reduce the impact.

Use unique passwords on all important accounts & avoid using easy to guess passwords. Enable multi-factor authentication where possible.

Ensure your Operating System, browsers & apps are all up-to-date. This will ensure you have the correct security updates.

Review any accounts you aren’t using & remove if possible.

Avoid entering any login details on any suspicious links. Double check any unexpected security alerts.

Doing this will create many layers of security.

How Often Should I Check My Email For Data Breaches?

There isn’t a specific time frame to ensure you’re safe. However it can be a good idea to check your email occasionally. Especially if you have many online accounts.

If you receive a real breach alert from a service you use investigate immediately.

Automated monitoring can reduce the need to do this manually.

However you will still want to use unique passwords, check any important accounts & enable strong authentication.

Business accounts may have processes in place to monitor credentials & breaches.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to check if your email has been in a data breach is an important part of protecting your online identity. Services such as Have I Been Pwned & Mozilla Monitor make it easier to see if there are any known breaches & what accounts you may need to look into.

If your details have been found in a breach check the details & secure your accounts. Change any compromised passwords & enable two factor authentication.

Remember, just because your email came back clean doesn’t mean you’re completely safe & just because there has been a breach doesn’t mean your inbox has been hacked. The best solution is to be aware, monitor regularly & keep your habits secure to keep your personal & professional accounts safe.

How to Check Whether Your Email Has Been in a Data Breach