The Cyber Defense eMagazine February Edition for 2024

Data Breach Search Engines
Navigating Access and Security in the Stolen Credentials Landscape
By Tom Caliendo, Cybersecurity Reporter, Co-Founder at Brocket Consulting LLC
In the last few years, an unprecedented number of stolen login credentials have been exposed in data
breaches. Data Breach Search Engines (DBSEs) are increasingly providing public access to these stolen
credentials. While designed to alert users to potential data exposure, these engines may unintentionally
contribute to the growing cyber threat landscape by aiding malicious actors in exploiting stolen login
credentials.
Despite the fact that the past year witnessed an alarming rise in threats from malicious actors leveraging
stolen login credentials, the potentially harmful role of DBSEs has been largely overlooked.
DBSEs have existed for years with the purpose of informing individuals if their personal information was
exposed in a breach. This involves seeking breached data from the dark net and making part of that
information available to the public on the DBSE's website on the regular internet, also known as the
"surface net."
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