Dashlane’s Password Management Service Now Alerts Users When Their Accounts May Be Hacked

Dashlane, a desktop and mobile app which helps you login to websites, fill out forms and speed through checkout faster, has launched a new feature which will alert you if one of your web accounts may have been compromised. This addresses a growing need, as high-profile hacks like those at companies like Zappos, LinkedIn, Dropbox and others seem to be making the news every few weeks. With a feature Dashlane is simply calling “Security Breach Alerts,” the idea is to offer users the online equivalent of the phone call from your bank when it’s suspected your credit or debit card may have been stolen. Dashlane thinks that online users should have the same sense of protection.

To be clear, the feature is not an early warning system for individual user accounts (unless the hackers actually post that data), as doing so would require a level of access which a third-party service like Dashlane can’t offer. Instead, the company monitors all security breach news and then identifies which of its users have accounts on the compromised domain. It knows this because one of the key features of its software is its ability to save the username and password you’ve configured with a particular website or service, or help you automatically create a secure one. When alerting users that a company may have just suffered a breach, Dashlane will also recommend that users change their password immediately and help them do so.

The alerts arrive on mobile, via the Dashlane iOS app, or on the desktop, via Dashlane’s downloadable software. The new feature is now available in the most recent updates to the desktop and mobile apps, which also include a few other interface and performance improvements. You can grab either from the Dashlane homepage here.