With new stories about hacked websites and stolen passwords emerging almost daily, here are some new browser tools that alert you if you sign in anywhere using a password that has been breached.
As noted, PassProtect is currently available as an extension for Chrome only, although they say a version for Firefox is in the works.
In the meantime, if you are a Firefox user, you can try a similar add-on called Prevent Pwned Passwords.
I installed the Prevent Pwned Passwords extension on Firefox on May 28 and it has already alerted me to four breached passwords that I didn’t know about. One was my go-to throw-away password for low-security sites that I don’t care about but two of them were actually passwords I have used on more significant sites. Needless to say, I changed those passwords immediately.
(I also installed PassProtect on Chrome since I use that occasionally as a backup and for testing websites.)
I strongly urge you to install one or both of these extensions now. You might be (unpleasantly) surprised by what they reveal.
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