I’ve recently become aware of a website that allows users to search a database of publicly announced security breaches and determine if their email account was exposed to hacking. If data related to the breach is publicly available, a user can enter their personal email address and perform a lookup on known breaches on the website.

While the information is invaluable to users trying to reclaim their online identities, the website also collects data as to the nature of data breaches, like what services are commonly targeted and the types of data that are often exposed. One common factor in some data breaches is the use of a single password on multiple sites and services.

As technology improvements “force” end users to surrender more of their private information, websites like haveibeenpwned.com highlight the increase in security breaches and the need to implement better practices and technology to secure our data.