Did you know that banks, online stores, government agencies, medical institutions, as well as dozens of other services and web applications, store your login credentials?
Hackers breach the security systems of various organizations and steal data to sell to third parties or use them for blackmail.
In this article, let’s look in detail at how to check your online data for leaks before registering on a new service or platform.
What is a Data Leak?
A data leak is the loss of confidential information that becomes publicly available as a result of iintentional or accidental activity. The reasons vary from human error to an organized cyberattack.
In 2021, hackers broke into the T-Mobile database: criminals stole customers’ full names, dates of birth, and passport details. The leak affected the personal information of 76 million subscribers.
That’s why users who want to avoid sharing their primary phone number during registration often rely on temporary number services such as GetTempNumber.
It is one of the most reliable services that provides temporary phone numbers for secure online registrations.
In order not to become a victim of a leak, you need to understand why data is leaking and what can be done to avoid it.
The Main Causes of Information Leakage
Let’s divide the causes of leaks into two main groups: human and technical.
Unintentional mistakes
A mistake without malicious intent, carelessness in work, inattention — all this can cause a data leak. For example, an employee accidentally uploaded a file to the cloud and, when sending it by email, sent it to the wrong recipient — the data got to third parties. This is an accidental disclosure of information.
But it happens that employees intentionally transmit information or use it for personal purposes, for example, to organize their own business.
Deliberate actions put the company’s security at risk, as intentional data leaks can cause serious financial and reputational damage.
In addition, an employee can steal a device with confidential information (laptop or USB flash drive). If the information on the external media is not encrypted or password-protected, this will only play into the hands of the attacker.
Technical
Fraudsters can install malware on devices, use cyber attacks, social engineering methods, and hack web applications or programs.
The risk of information leakage is created by errors and vulnerabilities in the software. Criminals use them to gain unauthorized access rights to accounts, steal data, introduce malware, or spy on users.
What to Check Before Registering for a New Online Service?
It may seem that signing up for a new service is just a couple of clicks, but in reality you are giving away more than you think. Therefore, it is useful to slow down for a second and see who you are dealing with at all.
Review the privacy policy carefully rather than superficially: what data is being collected, to whom it is being transferred, and why.
If already at this stage there is a feeling that they want too much information about you, this is a reason to be wary.
It is a good habit to minimize the footprint even before registration. Check the connection quality through the Internet Health Test, and for new or questionable services, do not use the main phone number, but take a temporary one through GetTempNumber. This is an easy way to keep control of what is really known about you online.
Even after checking a service, it’s important to verify whether your data has already been exposed in past breaches.
How to Check Data for Leaks?
In the age of information technology, no user can be 100% sure of their own safety. Accounts are hacked, passwords leak online with impunity.
But there is a way out — special services that are quite easy to use will answer the question of whether you have become a victim of criminals.
Have I Been Pwned?
In fact, Have I Been Pwned is a search engine — you enter your phone number or email address into the search field, click “pwned?” and see if your data is in the database of leaks.
Have I Been Pwned is a free service where you can subscribe to breach notifications at your email address: if the address is found in the databases, you will receive a notification.
DeHashed
DeHashed is a high-quality tool for searching leaked credentials and analyzing compromised data, as well as other encrypted information.
The key function is to recover the original passwords based on their hashes (a unique digital fingerprint that converts the password into a specific set of characters).
The program is widely used by cybersecurity experts, journalists, and IT companies, as it allows you to carefully study the degree of protection of the security system and detect all weaknesses. Everyone can use this service to be notified of data breaches in time.
Final Word
Today, data protection is more important than ever: it is easier to prevent information from being leaked than to deal with the consequences of fraudulent actions.
It is essential for the user to control access to their data and how it moves online, to encrypt information — encryption protects against leakage when data is transmitted through different communication channels (flash drives, messengers, or mail).
Risks are unlikely to be completely eliminate, but it is worth taking measures to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence.