How to check if your business emails are on the dark web.
Is your team's data already for sale on the dark web? Most businesses don't know until it's too late.
If you use Google Workspace to run your business, you may have previously relied on Google’s "Dark Web Report" to keep an eye on your security. It was a handy feature that flagged if your email address appeared in data breaches.
However, Google has discontinued this feature. While they suggest using other general consumer tools, this leaves a significant gap for business owners responsible for a team. You cannot afford to simply "hope" your company data isn't exposed.
The good news? The tool Google is removing was essentially a lightweight version of a much more powerful, industry-standard tool that you can use right now for free.
The Immediate Fix: "Have I Been Pwned"
The single best way to check your exposure is Have I Been Pwned.
This isn't just a tech workaround; it is the gold standard for breach monitoring. In fact, many other commercial "dark web monitors" actually pull their data from this exact database.
Here is your immediate action step: Go to the Have I Been Pwned website and enter your email address.
Green Screen: "Good news! No pwnage found." You can breathe easy.
Red Screen: If it turns red, it will show you exactly which breaches your data was found in—whether it was Trello, Adobe, or a random service you signed up for years ago.
This tool tracks data from thousands of breaches worldwide. If your info has leaked, it is almost certainly listed here.
Why Checking Your Email Isn't Enough (The Hygiene Upgrade)
Knowing you have been compromised is just step one. If you see that red screen (and statistics show 65% of people do), you need to clean up the mess.
The "Google way" was often just to notify you. The "Kimbley IT way" is to fix the root cause so it doesn't happen again.
Here is the three-step security hygiene upgrade we recommend to every client:
1. Stop Reusing Passwords
If your "Project Management" password is the same as your "Online Banking" password, and one gets breached, hackers have the keys to everything. You cannot manage unique passwords in your head—you need a password manager.
Our Recommendation: We use BitWarden with our clients. It generates and stores unique, complex passwords for every service.
What to avoid: We strongly advise against using LastPass due to their history of security incidents.
2. Clean Up Your Digital Footprint
Sometimes your data leaks not because you were hacked, but because a data broker sold your info. These companies scrape your details—address, shopping habits, phone numbers—and sell them.
The Fix: You can use a service like Incogni to automatically request the removal of your data from these brokers. It saves you hours of sending manual legal requests.
3. Turn on Two-Step Verification
When you change your password on a breached site, enable 2-Step Verification (2SV) immediately. This ensures that even if a hacker buys your new password on the dark web, they still can't get in without the second factor.
The Business Blind Spot: Your Team's Data
Here is the uncomfortable truth for business owners: Checking your own email is not enough.
If you manage a team of 10, 20, or 50 people, you have a massive blind spot. You might be secure, but is your Sales Director using "Password123" on a compromised site? Is a former team member's old account leaking data that links back to your company domain?
You cannot ask every team member to manually check "Have I Been Pwned" every week. They won't do it, and you don't have time to police it.
This is where the Domain Search feature comes in.
For businesses, "Have I Been Pwned" offers a professional tool that allows you to verify ownership of your entire domain (e.g., yourcompany.com). It then shows you every compromised account associated with that domain—current staff, past staff, and forgotten service accounts.
Let Us Handle the Monitoring For You
You shouldn't have to spend your weekends scanning the dark web or nagging your team to update their passwords.
When you partner with Kimbley IT, we take this entire burden off your plate.
We deploy and manage the Domain Search features for our clients automatically. It acts as a continuous audit, alerting us the moment a team member's email appears in a breach.
When that happens, we don't just send you a panic-inducing automated report. We work directly with your affected team member to secure the exposed information before it can be misused.
If you would like an expert to help you implement this and secure your Google Workspace, the next step is to book a video call with us using the form below.
