Was I in a data breach?
If you've used the internet for more than a few years, the honest answer is probably yes — billions of accounts have been exposed in known breaches. The useful questions are which breaches, what leaked, and what to do about it. Here's the plain-language version.
How to check
Breach data is tied to your email address — that's the identifier that shows up in leaked databases. To check yours:
- Use a trusted breach lookup (SecBird checks the Have I Been Pwned catalog, the same source security teams use).
- Check every address you actually use — your old Hotmail matters if any account still uses it.
- Set up ongoing monitoring, because the next breach hasn't happened yet. One-off checks age fast.
What "leaked" actually means
Not all breaches are equal. What was in the data decides what you do:
- Passwords leaked → change that password now, and anywhere you reused it. Turn on two-step sign-in so a stolen password isn't enough.
- Email + phone number → expect smarter phishing and scam calls. Be suspicious of "urgent" messages that know things about you.
- Payment details → watch statements; consider a card replacement.
- Just your email in a list → low risk on its own; keep an eye out for spam and phishing.
Old breaches (5+ years) usually matter less — if you've changed the password since. If you haven't, they matter exactly as much as day one.
What SecBird does differently
A lookup tells you that you were breached. SecBird gives you the plan: severity in plain words, an explanation of each leaked data type, a step-by-step checklist per breach — and your account's score stays capped until you've actually handled it. Honest, like a smoke detector.