Google shares password checker tool after billions of accounts hacked - check yours

Google is ready to fix your unsafe passwords as billions of online account passwords are leaked onto the internet.

The search engine giant has created a free add-on that allows Chrome users to check if their online credentials have been stolen.

Password Checkup was first released in 2019 as a free extension and it's designed to strengthen online security.

By scanning known databases, it pinpoints usernames and passwords which hackers have lifted from websites and made available to cyber criminals.

Password Checkup urges users to switch up their access information if it has been leaked.

Whenever you sign into a website, a pop up notifies you of being "one of over 4billion usernames and passwords" that have been fraudulently obtained and advertised by hackers.

In the add-on's first month, it scanned 21 million usernames and passwords and flagged 316,000 as unsafe (Google)

In 2019, Google Jennifer Pullman explained the huge amount of usernames and passwords flagged during the application's scans.

"Since our launch, over 650,000 people have participated in our early experiment," she said.

"In the first month alone, we scanned 21million usernames and passwords and flagged over 316,000 as unsafe – 1.5% of sign-ins scanned by the extension."

Even passwords without their accompanying usernames can be an online safety hazard (Getty Images)

If you find that your credentials have been stolen and sold online, it's important to immediately change them.

Even passwords, without usernames, can be an online safety hazard.

It's important to immediately change your log-in details to stay safe.

Hackers purchase enormous databases of compromised passwords from various sites because the letter combinations are often reused.

By forcing long lists of "known" hacked passwords - rather than trying random letters or numbers - they are more likely to obtain account access.

"Hijackers routinely attempt to sign in to sites across the web with every credential exposed by a third-party breach," said Pullman.

"If you use strong, unique passwords for all your accounts, this risk disappears."

The tool may pull from site breaches like the 2012 LinkedIn hack, the Sun reports.

The hack saw credentials of 6.5million LinkedIn users being obtained and sold in lists online.