Our passwords being compromised is a constant concern we all have in the back of our minds that we generally don’t think about until we have problems. Especially since the average person will use one password for 4 different accounts. Having a password compromised isn’t just a problem, it’s multiple problems. Google just created a tool that’ll allow you to be proactive if your password has been compromised.
If you use Google Chrome there’s a new “Google Password Checkup” extension you can add to your browser. When it’s activated and you log in to an account, it’ll tell you if it’s been collected through any type of hack or data breach. It’s a pretty cool tool. Often if your info is hacked and stolen there’s a window of time you have to take action before the criminals have taken advantage of you. This tool gives you a good chance of figuring it out before they’ve compromised your accounts.
As an aside, in the world of big data collection here’s something that’ll blow your mind. There are 7.5 billion people in the world. Google has over 4 billion username and password combos saved in its database. Yeah, people have multiples so it’s not 4 billion different people but still. Let all of that sink in for a minute. If Google decided one day to “be evil” or if they were ever severely compromised, all our information will be up for grabs.
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