Firefox new feature tells you if your email is breached

Mozilla Firefox remains the go-to browser for individuals with complaints against memory-intensive applications and other privacy concerns. Last year, Mozilla gave Firefox a complete haulover, giving it a new name “Firefox Quantum” along with other technical improvements such as lower memory consumption. The update reportedly made Firefox two times faster than its previous version. Now, to further up their userbase, Firefox has decided to collaborate with Have I Been Pwned to develop Firefox Monitor, a tool which lets you check whether your email has been compromised in a breach.

According to the founder of Have I Been Pwned, Troy Hunt, “This is major because Firefox has an install base of hundreds of millions of people which significantly expands the audience that can be reached once this feature rolls out to the mainstream”.

Initially, rumors of Mozilla integrating Have I Been Pwned into their browser started spinning last year. The media speculated about Firefox and Have I Been Pwned collaborating for something big but at that time none of the two parties agreed to comment. Speaking on that matter now, Troy said,

“The press picked up on some signals which indicated that in the long term, we had bigger plans than that and the whole thing got a heap of very positive attention. I ended up fielding a heap of media calls just on that one little feature – people loved the idea of HIBP in Firefox, even in a very simple form. As it turns out, we had much bigger plans and that’s what I’m sharing here today.”

He officially confirmed the collaboration in a detailed blog post. This collaboration is also bound to increase Have I Been Pwned’s Userbase considering there are hundreds of millions of people using Mozilla’s Firefox around the world. Mozilla has reportedly initiated the trial phase of the feature while the public release is expected to be in the coming weeks. A news outlet has reported that Mozilla will test out the feature using roughly 250,000 US-based users.

Have I Been Pwned has moved into the spotlight ever since the occurrences of website breaches have started to increase. Due to these incidents and their consequences, users are becoming increasingly aware of the need for online privacy tools. Have I Been Pwned is used by several organizations as well, including breached sites and governmental/law enforcement agencies to warn users about potential data privacy risks. Users have welcomed this integration, saying that it will be vital for the security and safekeeping of their information. Regardless of everything, will this integration actually help curb data thefts or will it go down in history as yet another failed attempt at safeguarding user information?