Leak check FAQ

Do you have other questions or want to report on a new data breach? Contact us.

How do we know if your data is leaked?

Everyday personal data from hundreds of websites is stolen in criminal hacker attacks. Some part of the stolen information is then sold on the black market or exposed on the dark web. Personal data can also be leaked by companies or organisations that leave their users’ databases unsecured. CyberNews Investigation team is constantly checking various sources and monitoring the Internet for data that has already been leaked to securely aggregate it and provide the general public with an easy accessible and free data leak checker tool.

Why do we provide this tool for checking if your personal information is leaked?

We understand the importance of informing people that might have had their personal data publicly accessible. As in most cases it is impossible to inform each person individually, we created this free tool that helps people check if their data was leaked so that they can take necessary measures to protect their information.

What is the size of our database?

Currently our data leak checker is the biggest known in the market consisting of more than 15 billion compromised accounts.

How do we store data from breaches?

Our database contains nothing more than the email address and the source of the leak. All information in our database is hashed with Blowfish based crypt (bcrypt) hashing algorithm. It is one of the safest hashing algorithms. All emails are anonymised and linked only to the source of the leak.

What happens when you check if your data has been leaked?

The email address that you enter in the search field is hashed and we use only this hash to perform a search in our database. We do not collect entered emails, nothing is logged when you perform the data leak check.

My email address was found among leaked data. Do I have to change my email address?

No, it is not necessary. But you should change the password for all of your user accounts that use this email address.

My email was not found among leaked data – am I completely safe?

Please note that our database contains only a part of all the records that have been breached over the years (only those that we managed to find). Many breaches never result in the public release of data and indeed many breaches even go entirely undetected. Just because your email address wasn’t found here doesn’t mean that it hasn't been compromised in another breach. That’s why it’s important to use strong passwords, not reuse them more than once, and turn 2FA (two-factor authentication) on when possible.

How can I opt out from the data leak check?

If you wish that when entering your email address our data leak checker would not return any results, opt out here. Please note that unfortunately it is impossible for us to remove your leaked information from the internet.

Do you have other questions or want to report on a new data breach? Contact us.