New site offers free hacking check

A new website allows Internet users to take matters into their own hands and check if their usernames and passwords have been put at risk in some of the largest data breaches in recent years.
The site, haveibeenpwned.com, has been created by Australian software architect Troy Hunt. It allows users to check if their email addresses are present in user databases leaked from Adobe Systems this year, Yahoo in 2012, Sony and Stratfor in 2011 and Gawker in 2010.
The Adobe data breach came to light in October and is considered to be the largest, publicly known, leak of user information in history. Over 153 million user records, including email addresses and poorly encrypted passwords, were exposed as a result.
Several security researchers have created websites which allow users to check if their details have been compromised by the Adobe breach, but the new site maps email addresses across multiple data breaches.
In 2012 Hunt compared the user records leaked from Sony and Yahoo and found that 59% of people with accounts in both databases used the same password. The haveibeenpwned.com website does not store any of the leaked passwords, only the email addresses.
“I just don’t need them [the passwords] and frankly, I don’t want the responsibility either,” Hunt said in a blog post. “This is all about raising awareness of the breadth of breaches.”
Hunt plans to keep adding data into the system from future data breaches and asked everyone aware of leaked user databases that are publicly available and haven’t yet been included in the project to let him know.

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