Back in June this year, Mozilla and Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) creator Troy Hunt announced that they were teaming up to integrate the humongous HIBP database into Firefox.
Today, Mozilla has officially launched the result of that collaboration, which has been dubbed Firefox Monitor – a web-based tool that will notify users if their email address has been compromised in an online data breach.
With every major data breach, the amount of compromised login information that's available to hackers in various nefarious online databases only gets bigger and, with many people still unwisely reusing the same password across different online services, making tools like Firefox Monitor more broadly available could certainly help keep more people safe.
Monitor your data
The way Firefox Monitor works is similar to the original HIBP online tool – all you need to do is plug your email address into the box provided and hit the ‘Scan’ button below (or just press Enter).
If your personal information has been leaked online, the details of the breach will be listed in a refreshed page.
Below your results, you'll find the option to check another email address, in case you use multiple accounts.
Firefox Monitor also gives you the option to sign up to be notified of any future breaches involving your email addresses.
Building awareness
The idea behind launching Firefox Monitor is to let users know about data compromises in a timely fashion, giving them a chance to change passwords and safeguard personal information from potential threats.
Despite data breaches occurring practically every other day, most people remain unaware about their personal data being compromised and are ignorant of the existence of the HIBP database. With Firefox Monitor, Mozilla is giving the tool far more exposure and putting it in front of a much larger audience – which should, hopefully, increase awareness and encourage more users to adopt safer security practices with their online accounts.
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