Your Google account password is the key to unlocking far more than just your Gmail inbox. It’s the silver bullet that can shatter your carefully constructed cyber defenses, leaving your accounts, data, and ultimately money open to attackers. But what if hackers already have your Gmail password? Here’s how to find out.
Gmail Password Hackers Are A Clear And Present Danger
When Gmail passwords were confirmed as part of the Synthient research database, now known to total 1.2 billion compromised credentials from a myriad of services and accounts, the story quickly went viral. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many non-security focused publications jumped to the wrong conclusion that all of the passwords, originally thought to be 183 million, belonged to Gmail users and were part of a massive Google breach. This was never the case, and Google confirmed as much when it issued a statement that said, in part, the reporting came about as “a misunderstanding of infostealer databases, which routinely compile various credential theft activity occurring across the web.” What isn’t a misunderstanding, however, is that Gmail users are in the hacker crosshairs, and then some. Your Google account credentials, and that means your Gmail password, as they are one and the same thing, are a hot cybercriminal ticket. But here’s the thing: how do you know if your Gmail password has been hacked? Not all attackers will immediately lock you out of your account by changing the password; some might wait and watch before making any move. Here’s the simple way to check, and what to do if you suspect your Gmail password has been compromised.
Gmail Credentials Check #1: Use Google’s Password Checkup
If you are fully embedded in the Google ecosystem, the chances are you use the Google Password Manager for Chrome. If so, then the good news is that this also comes with access to a password checkup tool that will not only check your saved passwords against any compromised credentials found in databases on the dark web and in other collections, but also go the extra mile and warn you if you are using any across multiple accounts, please don’t do that, or are weak, and so at risk from credential stuffers or brute force hack attacks.
Gmail Credentials Check #2: Use Your Password Manager
If you prefer to keep your password management out of your browser, or away from Google, and use a third-party password manager such as 1Password, LastPass or Proton Pass, for example, then you can make use of the built-in dark web exposure tools they provide.
Gmail Credentials Check #3: Go To The Source – Have I Been Pwned
Have I Been Pwned is now 12 years old, and during that time it has become the de facto number one data breach resource that anyone can use, for free. As well as the main searchable HIBP database, that, in the words of founder Troy Hunt, enables users to “quickly assess if they may have been put at risk due to an online account of theirs having been compromised or ‘pwned’ in a data breach,” by simply entering their email address, there’s another more specific resource: the Pwned Passwords database. Don’t panic, this is perfectly safe to use to check if any individual password, such as your Gmail password, for example, has previously been seen in a data breach. “No password is stored next to any personally identifiable data,” Hunt said, “and every password is SHA-1 hashed.”
A Google spokesperson told me: “Users can protect themselves from credential theft by turning on 2-step verification and adopting passkeys as a stronger and safer alternative to passwords, and resetting passwords when they are found in large batches like this. Gmail takes action when we spot large batches of open credentials, helping users reset passwords and resecure accounts.”
