Data breaches have become a fact of our digital world. Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report recorded over 12,000 breaches in that year alone. That’s nearly three dozen a day.
And it gets worse. Troy Hunt, founder of Have I Been Pwned, says that data breaches are not being reported as openly as they once were. “Now more than ever, there is an abundant lack of disclosure from breached organizations.”
There is, however, one last line of defense: a dark web monitoring service. Here’s what they are, how they work, and which ones we prefer. While you’re at it, consider looking into identity theft services, which can provide insurance for lost money online.
What Do Dark Web Monitoring Services Do?
Hunt says that, contrary to the name, dark web monitoring services aren’t necessarily focused on the dark web—parts of the internet available only through specialized software such as a Tor web browser.
“Most of the time when data is available, it’s not the dark web, it’s the clear web,” says Hunt. While it’s true that data might also be shared on the dark web, the vast majority of compromised data is found on publicly accessible hacker forums and markets.
The availability of the data is what makes a so-called dark web monitoring service, also known as a data breach monitoring service, possible.
It’s essentially a database of data breaches the service has found online. You sign up for the service by providing your personal data. An email address is most common, but some may also ask for a phone number or even your credit card information. The monitoring service can then alert you to any existing matches in its database and send you a notification if any new breach occurs in the future.
If the data is out there, the odds are good that it’s been reported. The infrastructure feeding breaches into modern dark web monitoring databases is extensive and sophisticated.
Law enforcement sends Have I Been Pwned “a lot of data,” says Hunt. “The FBI has an ingestion pipeline where they can feed passwords in.” Sources in the Infosec industry also often share data with each other, and in some cases, the hackers themselves reach out.
A Wide World of Stolen Data
The wide circulation of breached data is a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud. Individuals have essentially zero power to control or avoid the breaches that leak personal data. But once the data is leaked, it rarely stays a secret for long.
As a result, data-breach monitoring services are common and accessible. Have I Been Pwned’s data breach alerts are free; you don’t even need to set up an account. Mozilla Monitor and DataBreach.com provide similar free alerts.
Does that mean you should stick to free dark web monitoring services? Yes, actually. There’s not much reason for individuals to pay for the service. That also means there’s no reason to avoid signing up for data-breach alerts. If you haven’t, you might as well do it now—it only takes a moment.
Companies do ask you to pay for other, related services. Credit monitoring is the classic example. The data exposed in a breach is often used to set up fraudulent accounts or make fraudulent charges. The three major credit bureaus—TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax—each offer a paid credit monitoring service. (US Federal law also mandates free annual credit reports.)
Beyond simply protecting from data breaches, services like Incogni and DeleteMe have appeared to scrub your legally acquired data. These promise to delete your information from data brokers as soon as they’re aware it’s there. This data isn’t acquired through a breach but instead bought and sold by legitimate companies. These services typically charge a monthly fee to request deletions for you.
Then there’s a ton of security bundles, which include services like NordProtect, Norton LifeLock, and Aura. These bring multiple security and privacy services under one roof. They charge a monthly or annual fee and can be a good value, as they often include an antivirus and/or firewall, credit monitoring, ID theft protection insurance, and more. If you’re only interested in monitoring for data breaches, the free options suffice.
Which Dark Web Monitoring Service Should You Use?
Many free dark web monitoring services exist, but a few stand out as the best. These include Have I Been Pwned, Mozilla Monitor, and DataBreach.com. I recommend them because they’re free, easy to use, and are operated by well-established companies or organizations with good histories.
You’ll also find dark web monitoring tossed in with tons of security- and privacy-focused services. Credit monitoring services usually provide it, as does Incogni. Most password managers, like 1Password and Proton Pass, also include dark web monitoring. That means the best dark web monitoring service is often the one you already have access to.
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