Google's online password manager – found at passwords.google.com – includes a feature which lets you scan your passwords to see if any have been leaked in security breaches. Now, the company is bringing this Password Checkup tool to Chrome.
Password Checkup has previously been made available as a browser extension, but by moving it directly into Chrome, Google will be hoping that more people will make use of it and will be encouraged to change their passwords when necessary.
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Rather than checking the strength of individual passwords, Password Checker cross-references passwords against a database of those that have been exposed as part of a security leak or data breach.
Such leaks are a simple way for hackers to learn of username and password combinations, and many internet users are unknowingly using passwords that have already been exposed. Password Checker is yet to be rolled out to all Chrome users, but it is possible to try it out already.
Check your passwords
As Techdows reports, the Password Checker tool can be found in the Canary build of Chrome 82. To enable it, you will need to pay a visit to chrome://flags and turn on the Bulk password check option.
After restarting Chrome, visit chrome://settings/passwords or click 'Settings > Passwords' and you will see a new section headed 'Check passwords'.
If you're not happy using the Canary build of Chrome, you will just have to wait a little longer for the feature to make its way to the main release. In the meantime, you can continue to use the Password Checker at passwords.google.com
