Google made a Chrome extension that tells you if your passwords were breached

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Safer Internet Day was this week, so what better time for a new online-safety orientated Google Chrome extension to launch. Called Password Checkup, this extension comes straight from Google and it’s going to help you stay safer online by telling you if the passwords you’re using are part of a known data breach. If it alerts you to a breached password, you can change the login details right then and there to resecure your account.

With hackers using these huge databases of breached login details to try and brute force other services, changing your password as soon as possible is the best course of action. Google routinely checks databases of breaches to see if any Gmail accounts are included. Any users found in those databases get their account password reset, so any potential attackers are already cut off from those accounts.

Image: Google

Google’s Password Checkup extension checks against a database of over four billion credentials to see if the details you’re entering to that website are part of a breach. What’s even better is that all the password checking happens on your local machine, so your details aren’t being sent across the internet.

Google scientists worked with cryptography experts at Stanford University to ensure that your password and username aren’t known to Google, while also protecting you from further exposure.

Image: Google

Once you install the extension, Password Checkup sits in the background, monitoring every time you log in to websites. If it detects a match to the database of breached credentials, it’ll notify you to change that password. The extension also works with your password manager of choice. If you’re not using a password manager in 2019, now is the time to start.

1password is great and also ties into the haveibeenpwned database for extra security, or you could try industry stalwart LastPass or try one of the self-hosted options. Anything is better than reusing your passwords across multiple sites.

Google also will only notify you about breached passwords, not stupid passwords like “123456.” If you’re still using a password like that, you really don’t need an extension to tell you that you should change it.

What do you think? Plan on trying the extension out? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.