This secret Google tool checks if your password has been leaked

“Enter a strong password.” That message, which you will have seen many times when creating a profile on the Internet, reminds you that the first step to make it difficult for cybercriminals has to be taken by you. But, as you know, in the network all security is little, and in some cases it is possible that your password could have been leaked. But for that there is Google, who has a tool that allows us to know if our password has been discovered.

Use Google Password Checkup

This secret Google tool checks if your password has been leaked

However; Once you’ve followed all the tips for a strong password, how can you tell if it’s still strong? Because 100% security does not exist. It is possible that, even if you have taken care to put a long password that alternates different characters, you may be the victim of a massive data leak.

Aware of this, it is normal for many of us to find ourselves wondering if our email addresses and/or passwords that we use to access our accounts were part of this or some other leak or breach .

Knowing if our credentials were leaked or not, will also give us a guideline about whether the passwords we are choosing when registering for a new service or changing it, are sufficiently secure and/or original. From there we have tools like Google Password Checkup , which has this purpose in particular.

Google Password Checkup comprobar contraseñas

The tool will show us the security level

Or what is the same; If one of these ‘hackers’ gets your password, they can take over your account, change the settings, obtain personal and confidential information (bank account, address, telephone numbers…) or even impersonate your identity by obtaining your social security number .

To avoid this, we have with Google the Password Checkup extension, a tool capable of telling you if your password has been leaked on the Internet and therefore if you are vulnerable to information being stolen. All you need to use this new Google service is Chrome version 67 or later.

Nivel contraseña Google

To check your passwords, you will have to go to the Google Password Checkup website and click on its big blue button , which is the one that will take us to a screen where you will have to identify yourself with your Google account. When you do, a thorough scan will be performed on all your passwords stored in your account, and the results will be shown to you, which may vary depending on what it finds.

This can be found in the Google Browser Password Manager . There we will be shown the security level of the different passwords that we use. Depending on the number of passwords stored and the websites we use, we will have more or fewer warnings . It also depends on the web and the use we make of it. This already depends a bit on personal criteria, but especially in social networks, banks and the like, it is important to have a good password.

It only alerts if the password has been made public

The extension accesses a database, but the warnings that Checkup gives you happen locally. That is, Google does not have to know that your specific passwords have been exposed. There are, as we have said, other services that are worth knowing these same details, but the way in which this extension works is very close to a large number of users who will not be aware of the alternatives.

Google contraseña vulnerable

Actually, the verification that Password Checkup does is already offered by other third-party apps, but the Chrome extension checks every web page that we log in, so it is more convenient.

The extension simply alerts if it finds a password that has been made public . It does not help to change it, it does not store passwords, it does not check other associated data such as telephone or addresses if they have also been exposed. More information on this, as well as steps to remove any data it may store, can be found on the Password Checkup support page.