Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) haveibeenpwned.com is a reputable, widely used service that lets you check whether your email or password has appeared in a known data breach.

Here’s what you need to know:

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🔍 What Is HIBP?

• A free, consumer-focused website created by cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt in December 2013.

• Users can:

  1. Enter an email to see which breaches it’s involved in.

  2. Check a password (securely, using k-anonymity) to see if it shows up in known leaks.

• Optional: Sign up for alerts to be notified if your email appears in future breaches.

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🔐 Security & Privacy

• Hosted securely on Microsoft Azure, protected by HTTPS, Cloudflare, rate-limiting, security scans, and firewalls.

• The site does not store or share your email or password—only sends notifications if breaches are detected.

• Industry experts and public forums support its legitimacy:

  “Yes it is safe… No unless you sign up for notifications.” 
  “That’s a legit site… widely recommended.”

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🛡️ What To Do If You’ve Been “Pwned”

1. Change compromised passwords immediately—on all affected sites.

2. Use unique, strong passwords (length matters most).

3. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible.

4. Monitor for suspicious activity, and consider a password manager to generate and store secure credentials.

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🧭 Why Use It?

• Helps you proactively identify data exposure before it becomes a problem.

• Supports password-only or passwordless checks via secure, privacy-preserving methods.

• Trusted by users, governments, and major password managers (e.g., 1Password, Firefox Monitor).

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⚠️ Related Recent Data Breach News

• A compiled dataset of 16 billion credentials has circulated—but it’s likely old breaches repackaged, not a fresh mega-leak.

• Experts recommend checking HIBP and enabling security measures like 2FA and passkeys