Information Madness

A website that is called, `PwnedList.com’, will provide the internet users the solution to the ancient question, “Was my account hacked?” This site has been recently inaugurated and its pages compare usernames or eMail addresses to a collection of close to five million records that were leaked by hackers online.

The designers of this site intended to create an easy one-click solution to help the public verify and confirm if their accounts have been compromised as part of corporate data breach by a malicious software item that sneaks around on their computers or any other form of security compromise. This site has been created by Alen Puzic who is a security researcher who works for TippingPoint DV Labs, a division of Hewlett Packard. He is assisted by a co-designer, Jasiel Spelman.

The site is very easy to use. If a user wants to learn if he was `pwned’ or not, he or she has to enter the address or the ID of the account he or she suspects of being hacked and he or she will be given a quick answer.

The main page of this site is highlighted by a counter that shows the number of eMails and usernames that have been discovered. Over four and a half million hacked account holders have already been informed.

The creators of this site are planning to add phone numbers and credit cards also to the collection so that users may be able to check. The point to note here is that the database is growing at an enormous rate of fifty thousand accounts each week. Even if this week, you are safe, there is no guarantee that you will not find yourself on this site after few days.