Mozilla integrates 'Have I Been Pwned' into Firefox

Something to look forward to: Mozilla's new Firefox Monitor tool will allow users to see if their email accounts have been breached directly from the browser itself. Eventually, it will even notify users if their data was included in any new security breaches.

There have been a preponderance of data breaches and cyber incidents over the last few years. Unfortunately, many non-technical people are unaware if any of their internet accounts have been compromised. To mitigate that, Mozilla has announced that they are integrating Troy Hunt's well-known "Have I Been Pwned (HIBP)" database into future versions of Firefox.

The HIBP website houses a database of billions of unique email accounts that have been breached as a result of past cyber attacks. Well known websites such as LinkedIn and Adobe are also included in this database. Mozilla initially used the breach API to simply notify users if they visited a website that had been breached. Now the company is using the entire HIBP service into a tool called Firefox Monitor.

Firefox Monitor allows users to enter their email addresses and lists the extent of how much of the user's personal data was exposed. The tool also offers suggestions on how to better secure their data and accounts. Mozilla also plans to notify users if their accounts were exposed in any new security breaches.

Popular password manager 1Password has also integrated HIBP into its Watchtower. The Breach Reports feature can tell you if the information you've saved inside 1Password has been exposed. So far, the integration only works on the web-based application but will eventually roll out to the desktop application as well.

For its part, Mozilla has been working closely with Cloudflare to create anonymity in the data sets to ensure user privacy. Mozilla is planning the initial rollout of Firefox Monitor next week to around 250,000 users. From there, it will be made available to all 170 million Firefox Quantum users. A significantly higher number than the current 2 million verified users that use the HIBP website by itself.