Your heart may race when you get a Google Chrome password breach notice that reads, “Your password was exposed due to a data breach on a site or app.”
Your password may have recently been revealed in a breach, and Chrome’s built-in password manager will notify you of this.
You can verify whether your passwords were exposed in a Chrome password breach warning, and you’ll also discover what to do next.
What Is a Data Breach?
Data breaches happen frequently. A data breach exposes private user information like email addresses and passwords. This is often the result of hackers and online crooks at work.
If you use the same password or login information across many accounts, a data breach on one site could risk your other funds. Personal data is stolen, sold, or used by hackers for illicit purposes that may harm its victims.
Some High-Profile Data Breaches
In 2016, Yahoo acknowledged that a breach that started in August 2013 affected 3 billion Yahoo accounts.
The same thing happened to 1.1 billion Alibaba accounts in November 2019. 700 million LinkedIn accounts were reportedly affected by a new breach in June 2021. And numerous significant data breaches have occurred, like the COMB breach.
More minor breaches continue while being undetected. No matter how big the breach, it becomes a significant concern if you are impacted.
What to do when I get a Chrome password breach warning?
- Update all Weak and Reused Passwords
- Confirm the Data Breach Warning is Real
- Don’t Click the Warning Link
1. Update all Weak and Reused Passwords
It might be wise to update all the commonly used weak passwords while you’re on this page. You run a very high risk of getting hacked if you use weak passwords or reuse passwords frequently.
You risk further penetration if your login credentials were used in a previous security incident and you unintentionally reused them. With those credentials, hackers might access all your internet services and products, including your bank accounts.
Password-cracking software is often used in brute-force assaults to guess weak passwords quickly.
The following graph illustrates the rough time it takes for thieves to decipher passwords of various lengths and character combinations.
Please input your password into this free password strength tester to see how long it will take for thieves to guess it.
2. Confirm the Data Breach Warning is Real
The information-saving feature in your Chrome browser must be active for Google to detect leaked credentials.
When you’re on your Google Password Manager page (you must be signed into your Google Account for this to function), you may check to see if this option is activated.
The save password option is NOT activated. The notification you received about a data breach is probably a fraud you should ignore if you get a notice saying, “You haven’t stored any passwords in your Google Account yet.”
If you have the password-saving feature activated, proceed as follows:
- Select “Go to Password Checkup” on the Google Password Manager page.
- The password checkup page will show you all your Google Account’s saved credentials that have been disclosed due to a data breach. The password checkup Chrome extension was the first application to use this breach detection mechanism.
- You can access it with your Google account. By going to Chrome Settings and selecting Sync and Google Services, you can choose not to use this option.
- Check out this image or read this paper to learn the principles underlying Google’s password breach detection engine.
3. Don’t Click the Warning Link
Cybercriminals frequently employ fear-based tricks to deceive consumers into providing their sensitive account information.
Have you ever seen a pop-up “virus alert” message? That’s probably a fraud that will ask for money to remove an infection never found.
Therefore, avoid clicking on the warning link to prevent a sophisticated phishing scam.
How to update your password after getting a security breach warning?
- Select the drop-down menu for exposed passwords. You can also “View password,” “Change saved password,” “Delete password,” and “Dismiss warning,” among other things.
- You’ll be sent to the website after clicking “Change password.” Register with your account.
- According to Chrome’s password manager, your password was discovered in a data breach. To check passwords, click.
- Revisit the website and modify your password. The password manager in Chrome will then ask you to update your previously remembered password. Select “Update password.”
- After successfully changing your password, a request to look for other compromised credentials will appear. To check the remaining passwords, click.
- You’ll return to your Chrome password manager to complete the previous steps.
- To proceed, hit “Change password”; to leave the Chrome settings window, tap “Exit.” You can finish later when all your saved passwords have been changed.
- Resuming, launch Chrome and select “Settings” from the menu. “Passwords -> Check passwords -> Change password” should then be chosen.
What moves should I take to secure my passwords?
Password breaches will have less impact if people adopt better password protection practices. To ensure a secure browsing experience, adhere to the following best rules to protect your compromised passwords.
1. Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Even though two-factor authentication may make you scoff, it is one of the best methods to stop automated intrusions. Google claims that using two-factor authentication, or 2FA, may completely thwart automated bot assaults.
A minor login delay is acceptable, given such statistics.
Ensure to enable this excellent feature because most online services (at least the ones you can trust) support two- or even multi-factor authentication.
2. Only Use Strong Passwords (and Never Recycle Them)
To meet the minimum recommended level of resistance to password cracking efforts, your password must be at least 12 characters long and made up of digits and multi-cased letters.
If you self-design your passwords, achieving this requirement might be pretty challenging, especially if you’re also expected never to reuse your passwords as there aren’t many pet names, pals, or noteworthy anniversaries available.
Final Thoughts
One of the greatest and simplest ways to secure your personal and financial information is to improve your password security habits.
It should take less time to complete the task than it takes to decipher a 13-character numerical password.
