Stolen password search website launched
CBC News
Posted: Jun 23, 2011 10:07 AM ET
Last Updated: Jun 23, 2011 11:10 AM ET
Related
Related Links
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
A website that lets people check whether their email addresses, usernames and passwords have been stolen in a cyberattack and posted online has been launched by an Australian who is a former IT security consultant.
Daniel Grzelak, who lives in the Sydney area, launched his new website, shouldichangemypassword.com, on Tuesday. The site allows concerned internet users to enter an email address and see whether it is one of 800,000 records posted online by groups such as Lulz Security.
That hacker collective, also known as LulzSec, has taken responsibility for cyberattacks on Sony, Nintendo, FBI affiliate Infragard Atlanta, and websites of the CIA and U.S. Senate. Data stolen in some of those attacks is posted on Grzelak's website.
If an email is listed in the database of stolen data, the site will list what information among your email, username and password have been compromised, how many times it has been compromised, and the most recent incident. It will also recommend that the user change all his or her passwords.
However, the site's FAQ cautions that even if a user receives the message: "Your passwords may be safe," it does not mean they were not compromised — it just means they weren't published as part of the high profile breaches listed.
Grzelak wrote on the site that he plans to keep updating the site whenever a new password database is made public "in perptetuity."
Grzelak told the New York Times that he created the tool for family and friends who had heard about the “LulzSec shenanigans” and were concerned about what it meant for them.
The site allows concerned internet users to enter an email address and see whether it is one of 800,000 records posted online by groups of such as Lulz Security. (Should I Change My Password)
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Obesity now recognized as a disease
- The American Medical Association has voted to recognize obesity as a disease, while doctors in Canada say they also treat it as such. more »
- B.C. First Nation sets fires to save bison
- A First Nation band is reviving the age-old practice of controlled burning in order to improve the health of forests and restore the population of the wood bison in a corner of northeastern B.C. more »
- 1 in 8 bird species threatened with extinction
- One in eight bird species worldwide faces the threat of extinction, according to a report released by Birdlife International. more »
- Canada buys rare War of 1812 collection for $573K
- The government of Canada was the winning bidder for a large collection of letters, maps and other papers that once belonged to Sir John Sherbrooke, the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia who conquered Maine for the British during the War of 1812. The collection sold for $573,000 at auction in London. more »
Must Watch
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- How open is Ottawa's new 'open data' website?
- Treasury Board President Tony Clement is touting the federal government's revamped data portal as a "new natural resource." But that online window for previously published data arrives at the same time the government faces controversy over just how open it really is. more »
- Genetically-modified crop inventors win World Food Prize
- Three pioneers of plant biotechnology whose work brought the world genetically modified crops have been awarded this year's World Food Prize. more »
- Anti-social media app helps you avoid other people
- A cheeky new app, billed "an experiment in ant-social media," leverages a user's own social network to decrease the likeliness of actually crossing paths with someone in it. more »
- 'Tweet' gets 21st century update in Oxford dictionary
- Tweeting in the social-networking sense has become so pervasive that the Oxford English Dictionary has broken one of its own rules to add new meanings for "tweet" as both a noun and a verb. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
After Hadfield, who's the next Canadian in space? Jun. 13, 2013 12:01 PM Canada's singing astronaut announced his retirement this week, leaving Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques to fill his space boots. But there is no date set for when the next Canadian will fly in space.
Quirks & Quarks
- June 22: How to Build a Brain Jun. 19, 2013 10:42 AM Scientists are embarking on ambitious projects to understand the incredible complexity of the human brain and to simulate it in a computer. They hope it will help us understand mental disorders, as well as the nature of thought, memory, and conciousness.
Latest Features
- Sopranos star James Gandolfini dies in Italy
- Wearing a mask at a riot is now a crime
- Dozens of children seized from Manitoba Mennonite community
- B.C. teacher duct-taped students' mouths
- B.C. First Nation sets fires to save bison
- Obesity now recognized as a disease
- Richmond widow racks up $1,800 hospital parking bill
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Hail, flash floods hit southeast Alberta

