All the sites and tools I use to find out if my personal data has been stolen and is on the dark web
It's never nice to know that your personal data has been leaked on the dark web, in lists containing thousands and thousands of names, nicknames, addresses, or in the worst case, bank accounts or information associated with them.
Although a data leak like your name or email may not be very serious, it is always advisable to change your password, activate two-step verification, and if you want even more security, set up temporary codes.
This is the best option in the event of a leak, as cyber attackers will use so-called social engineering, aiming to create a detailed profile, impersonate a legitimate service or fill your inbox with spam emails seeking to make you fall for a scam.
If you're concerned about your online security, here are some tools I use weekly to see if my personal data has been leaked, as well as the state of cyber attacks around the world.
- Have I been pwned
This tool for finding out if your data is on the dark web is probably the most popular and common on this list. Plus, it’s the first site I’d visit if I wanted to find out if my email was part of a personal data directory as a result of a security breach.
Once you enter your email address, the page will tell you whether it has been hacked in a massive leak, as well as which company was attacked — in great detail — and what type of data was compromised.
- Mozilla Monitor
If there's one thing Firefox pays special attention to, it's its commitment to user privacy, so it can't be short of its own tool to find out if your data has been compromised.
Mozilla Monitor, formerly known as Firefox Monitor, lets you know if your email address is part of a massive leak. In my case, it happened on Shadow PC on September 28, 2023.
For added peace of mind, Firefox offers security recommendations to protect your personal data, although any security breach will inevitably lead to encountering many potential spam or scam emails.
- DeHashed
It is one of the most complete sites, because it not only allows access to email leaks, but also to any personal data associated with you, such as your first and last name, IP address, username or home address, among others.
To find your exposed data, you don't need to pay anything, as it's free when you create a new account.
Anyway, I recommend it as one of the most important sites because it is the most complete on the list, at least choose a free version if you start to suspect that something is wrong with your personal data.
- IntelligenceX
Although you can create a completely free account, to unlock the reports that appear when you search your data, you'll need to pay for the Pro version.
In any case, it can be a good tool if you want to know in depth what documents have been sold illegally on the dark web, beyond just knowing the various vulnerabilities.
In my case, they all match exactly to the leaks in my email, with the exact date and time, plus the ability to download txt files.
- SpyCloud
This is one of the most popular services to find out if your personal data has been leaked, although it is mostly offered for business services or corporate emails.
Therefore, if you want to access a detailed report, you will have to pay for the premium option.
In short, try all other tools first, as they offer much more data than SpyCloud, which only details the time of the breach, the risk of cyberattacks and the leaked data.