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Most modern forms of technology already have sophisticated in-built cybersecurity protections, yet it's still alarmingly easy to find yourself vulnerable to a hacking attempt that could leave your personal and financial data exposed.
This is especially the case in the age of artificial intelligence, as even the world's biggest tech companies are being threatened by advanced attacks so the average person is even more at risk.
Sometimes all it takes is clicking a dodgy link or even something as simple as scanning a malicious QR code, yet cybersecurity experts have outlined two essential tools you can use within seconds to check whether you're at risk of being hacked.
As shared by Which?, these tools are not only free to use but can be used as an alert system whenever your credentials become exposed online, as it's often the case where your data being leaked is completely out of your control.
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Hackers often target large companies and websites that have millions, if not billions of accounts, each with their own associated email addresses and passwords that can then be potentially used to unlock other vital services.
It's why you should never use a password more than once as doing so effectively opens the door to cybercriminals the moment your detailed are leaked or sold on the dark web, but you should also check these two websites in particular to see if you've already been affected.
First up is Have I Been Pwned, which you might already be aware of but is something that you should be regularly checking.
The website allows you to enter your email address, which is then cross referenced with data sets from publicly known breaches to see if it appears, indicating whether you need to change any details associated with certain websites.
This takes little more than 10 seconds and could be a vital tool to help protect yourself against any further attacks, and you can even sign up to receive alerts when your email address appears in newly identified breaches.
On top of this you should also take advantage of Google's built-in Password Checkup tool if you've got an account with the tech giant, as it highlights passwords that might have been compromised, alongside ones that could do with an improvement.
It's an incredibly useful check to see if you've got any passwords that are used across multiple sites too, as going in to make each one unique could be the thing that saves you in the future.
