App of the Week – Google’s Password Check Up

Published On March 5, 2019 | By Tom Huskerson | App of the Week

This week’s app is actually a browser extension for users of Google’s Chrome Browser.

Data breaches are rampant. And keeping up with the all the stolen data is not an easy task. So what is the best way to determine if your user names and passwords are compromised? Good question!

The answer is Google’s Password Check Up extension. This new tool is able to warn you if your information is safe. According to Google it has over 4 billion compromised usernames and passwords stored. Using this extension will alert you if your password is safe or not every time you log in to your account on a website

Users of Chrome can check by going to a website that requires a password to log in. Click on the Password Checkup icon and you should get a message saying “None of your recently used passwords was detected in a data breach”. If you see something else click here.

Why is this important? Because many people have the bad habit of using the same password on multiple sites. If your password is compromised the hacker can access all to some, if not all, of your online accounts.

Next question; can I trust Google considering that its privacy record is dubious at best? With this extension Google claims it “never reveals this personal information.” And that any data reported back to Google about the extension’s use is anonymous.

Other ways to check if user names, passwords and other personal information is breached? If you don’t use the Chrome browser try visiting “Have I been Pwned.”

Finding out the hard way that your information has been compromised can not only be frightening but also costly…very costly. That’s why Password Check Up is the App, or extension, of the Week. You can download the extension here. And its free!

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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