How to Check If Your Account Was Part of Facebook Data Breach 2021

Apr. 5, 2021

In an unsurprising turn of events, Facebook has been hit with yet another massive data breach. As we reported, a large data set of 533 million Facebook users, almost 20% of the userbase,has been leakedon a popular hacker forum. The data includes phone numbers, email addresses, names, gender, date of birth, location, relationship status, and employer information, among other things. It has come to light that hackers exploited a Facebook vulnerability to obtain this personal data. So if you want to check if your Facebook account was breached in the recent data leak, follow our guide below. We have also put together a guide to secure your Facebook account in case your data was leaked online.

While this guide is in particular about Facebook, you can use the same steps for any of your online accounts to check for data breaches in the future and safeguard your account. I would strongly recommend you go through the next section to secure your account.

1. The easiest and fastest method to check if your Facebook account was part of the recent data leak is the websitehaveibeenpwned.com. Click on the above link to open the website, andenter the email address associated with your Facebook account. Then, click on the “Pwned?” button.

2. If your data has been exposed on the internet from any app or website, not just Facebook, then the website will show the “Oh no — pwned!” message.

3. If the recent Facebook leak exposed your private data online, then you shouldfollow the series of steps mentioned belowto secure your account against malicious actors.

Secure Your Account After Facebook Data Breach

1. First up, you mustchange the passwordof your Facebook account right away. Log in to Facebook, preferably from a device that you have been using to browse the website. After that, click onthis linkto directly open the Security Settings on Facebook.

2. If you are using the Facebook app on your smartphone, then tap the hamburger menu from the top navigation bar. Then, navigate to“Settings and Privacy -> Settings -> Security and Login”in the app.

3. Next, irrespective of the platform, click on “Change Password” under the “Login” section. Here, enter your old password and create a new password. I would suggest creating a strong password using LastPass’sonline password generator. Make sure to take note of your password if you are not using a password manager.

Once you have changed the password, you mustenable two-factor authentication(2FA) to protect your Facebook account. We have already written a detailed guide onhow to enable 2FA on Facebook, go through that, and you will have it set up in a jiffy.

You are now one step closer to protecting your Facebook account. You can nowset up a notification service for future breachesthrough haveibeenpawnd. If your email is found in any future online leaks, not just Facebook, the website will alert you via email. You can then rush to change your password immediately and set up 2FA. To proceed, openhaveibeenpawned.comand click on “Notify Me” in the top navigation bar.

Now, enter your email and click on “notify me of pwnage“. Next, open your email inbox and verify the email address. You’ve successfully set up an alert service for any Facebook-like online data breaches in the future.

Apart from that, I will recommend you tocheck if your password has been leaked anywhere on the internet. You can do so by opening the ‘Passwords’ section onhaveibeenpwned.com. Here, enter the password that you use for online accounts. If your password was ever part of a data leak, then change it immediately and quit using that password on any other website in the future.

Also, as a safe practice,remove third-party access to your Facebook account, and from now onwards, don’t grant permission to any and every third-party app to your account. Over the years, we have seen third-party apps become asource of data leaksfrom Facebook.

Finally, you shouldusepassword managersfor all your online accounts. Password managers can help create strong, unbreakable passwords. They areprotected withAES 256-bit encryption. They can’t be brute-forced through any attack.

So that is how you can check if your Facebook account was breached in a recent data leak. I have also provided a definitive guide to mitigate future risks and protect your accounts from any attack. If you are disappointed by Facebook’s continuous lax security, then you can go ahead andpermanently delete Facebook. You can jump ship to popularFacebook alternativeslike Twitter, Instagram, and others. Anyway, that is all from us. If you face any issues while implementing any of these steps, then comment down below and let us know. We will surely try to help you out.

Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.