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Shortly Firefox will flag sites which have been hacked

Technology

Firefox has a good run right now, having just released its much speedier and better-looking Quantum browser. It’s currently working on a new feature that security fans are bound to like: it’ll warn you if you are visiting a website that has suffered a data breach. Firefox is working on the feature in collaboration with “Have I Been Pwned,” the popular website which will check your email and tell you if your credentials are stolen by hackers.

Troy Hunt, the security expert behind Have I Been Pwned, confirmed the news, tweeting that “yes, we’re doing some awesome things with @mozilla and @haveibeenpwned.” The update is still in the early stages, but you’ll download it from GitHub, then compile and add to Firefox if you wish to test it out. Bear in mind that it only works with the Developer Edition, though.

The add-on is fairly basic, for now. If you visit a website on Have I Been Pwned’s naughty list, it’ll throw a flag stating, “You visited hacked website ashleymadison.com.” It will not stop you from entering, but it will provide users a plan that, at some point or another, the site’s security procedures were less than optimal.

Hunt is working with Mozilla on the code but is not quite sure how the final feature can work. “Firefox is just looking at which websites have been breached and we’re discussing different ways that of using the data in the future,” “They’ve got a broad reach and surfacing this information via Firefox is a good way to get more exposure around data breaches.”

Hacked sites, on the other hand, might not be too thrilled about a feature which will shame them about their previous lax security. However, if properly implemented, it could give a very helpful service to consumers, letting them know that they might need to change their password and not recycle the breached one. So far, Hunt tweeted, users have responded enthusiastically. “Wow, surprised at how much feedback this is garnering so quickly, I am pretty stoked.”

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