Find out if your data has been leaked with Proton Mail’s new tool

Proton Mail has just unveiled a new Dark Web Monitoring feature in an effort to strengthen its security capabilities against widespread data breaches.

Data breaches are reportedly increasing as billions of people’s login details are exposed. The longer this sensitive information remains on the internet, the easier it is for cybercriminals to exploit it to their advantage. This new tool from Proton aims to challenge this. By identifying and alerting you as soon as your credentials appear in a breach, you can take action before bad actors get them.

Already one of the most secure email providers on the market, Proton Mail now claims to be the first email service to combine end-to-end encryption and dark web security. The new feature is now available on the web and desktop apps, but only for paid subscribers.

Encryption alone is not enough

As Proton’s Head of Anti-Abuse & Account Security, Eammon Maguire, explained, the dark web is filled with leaked information, data and credential dumps – and that’s something that even the strongest end-to-end encryption alone can’t do. to protect. in return for.

Take, for example, the data breach that occurred in January this year. Dubbed the “Mother of All Data Breaches,” it exposed a 12TB database containing more than 26 billion records. This is the largest data breach to date. One of the top VPN providers, Surfshark, has analyzed data breaches since 2004 and calculated that 3,353 accounts were hacked every minute in the first quarter of 2024 – a significant jump from the end of last year’s average. just now 627.

The owners of this leaked data are often unaware, but cybercriminals are busy trading their sensitive data to launch identity fraud and other attacks. By taking advantage of the fact that most people can reuse their passwords across multiple accounts, criminals often carry out a so-called ‘credential stuffing attack’. They enter thousands of these stolen passwords and email addresses into different platforms, looking for a possible match.

“While data breaches on third-party sites that result in the leakage of personal information (such as your email address) can never be completely avoided, automated early warning can help users stay vigilant and limit worse side effects such as identity theft,” said Maguire.

That’s exactly where Proton Mail’s new Dark Web Monitoring tool comes into the picture: a way to respond as quickly as possible if your login details are exposed.

The feature regularly scans every corner of the dark web, which is exactly the part of the internet where your stolen personal data ends up. It searches for email addresses, passwords, and other personal information associated with your account.

Proton will alert you if it finds leaked data from your accounts for third-party websites. You will receive detailed information about the leak and the compromised data. The provider will also suggest steps you should take to protect your digital identity and limit potential risks.

Proton’s dark web detection tool is based on the company’s own threat intelligence datasets, in addition to data sourced from a leading digital threat management company. Constella Intelligence.

The provider promises that user data will never be shared with third parties for this purpose. However, Maguire explained that the team analyzes reports “from third parties whenever they find leaked information or data stolen in a hack of a third-party online service associated with a Proton Mail email address or a Proton Pass/SimpleLogin alias.”

Proton Mail Dark Web Monitoring is now available to paying subscribers on web and desktop apps and can show all known breaches that have affected your accounts in the last two years. Those that pose a higher risk to your privacy are marked in red, while those where fewer details have been compromised are marked in orange.

Maguire said Dark Web Monitoring will soon also send notifications to your Android or iPhone device, so you can take action even faster. The plan is also to expand the data you should pay attention to, including custom domain emails and external email addresses you used to register with the Proton VPN, Proton Pass, and Proton Drive.

He said: “You may not be able to avoid data breaches, but Dark Web Monitoring and other Proton security features can help you mitigate risk and stay in control of your digital identity.”

If you believe you are at particular risk of a cyber attack, we also recommend checking out the Proton Sentinel program, which is available to all Unlimited, Family and Business subscribers.