Many people never considered the dark web a real threat until one of their favorite services warned them about a data breach. That wake-up call prompted them to dig deeper and try a dark web monitoring service: F-Secure ID Protection .
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Dark Web monitoring is the act of scanning the dark web for stolen or leaked information. The main motivation behind dark web monitoring is to find out if your personal information has been leaked into hidden parts of the internet. Information searched for includes email addresses, phone numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and other sensitive data.
Dark web monitoring services do the heavy lifting for you. They scan the dark web for personal information, using your email address, phone number, address, or even social security number, and will let you know if any of it is found. If you’re interested, there are a number of free tools to check if your data is on the dark web.
However, not all of them offer a proactive approach. That’s why you should opt for a proactive monitoring service instead of just checking to see if your data is on the dark web. That way, the service will alert you if any of your data appears in known breaches, shady forums, or marketplaces, so you can take action before it’s too late.
There are many dark web monitoring services on the web and you can find them by searching online. However, many people have decided to try F-Secure's Identity (ID) Protection service.
F-Secure ID Protection is a digital security service designed to protect user identities by monitoring the dark web for leaked personal information. The service offers a full suite of identity protection features, including continuous online identity monitoring.
The service will alert you if your email, logins, or other sensitive data is found in known data breaches or illegal marketplaces. It also includes other tools, like a secure password manager and VPN .
It's not a free service, though. F-Secure's ID Protection costs $65/year and includes a password manager, dark web monitoring, breach alerts, and dedicated professional help in the event of a data breach.
Signing up and setting up dark web monitoring on F-Secure’s ID Protection service is fairly straightforward. First, you fill out a registration form with the necessary information to confirm your participation. The initial setup process lets you choose which devices to protect, as F-Secure offers device and ID protection.
You can skip device protection (or set it up later) and select ID Monitoring in the upper left corner. Next, accept the terms of use and you're ready to turn on dark web monitoring. Click Add Monitored Item , then enter your email address.
Once submitted, the site will send a confirmation email to the email address entered. Once confirmed, the service will scan the dark web for your personal information in previous data leaks or leaks and provide immediate results.
After confirming via email, it was time to determine if your data was on the dark web. F-Secure quickly ran a scan and returned results almost immediately. As expected, the scan showed that the author's data was on the dark web. The author had used tools like F‑Secure Identity Theft Checker and had a clue that his data had been exposed.
However, the service displays the results in a nice dashboard, showing the total number of breaches that have been detected and analyzed for each, along with the date the data was discovered. F-Secure's analysis is quite handy, with not only the date and leak information, but also a handy icon indicating the severity of each one.
Pay special attention to high severity breaches, which are very concerning. To be clear, a high severity label means your passwords, credit card information, passport numbers, or social security numbers have been exposed.
On F-Secure, you can click on each leak to see more details, such as what information was leaked and what information was found. For example, if your password or city of residence was leaked, F-Secure will show you the compromised data.
But some of the more recent breaches are even more concerning. For example, the most recent breach in which the data in the example was discovered was in April 2025, but fortunately that only exposed the victim’s email X (formerly Twitter), username, and city. In 2024, the data was discovered in two breaches, prompting the victim to take immediate action.
It's frustrating to see some serious breach involving your data. But F-Secure doesn't keep you waiting. It provides clear guidance on what to do next if personal data is found on the dark web.
First, review each breach and take immediate action on affected accounts. Set strong, unique passwords using our secure password generator guide for all affected services. Also, make sure two-factor authentication is enabled on all your accounts for added security.
Detecting breaches involving your email and the specific data that has been exposed is invaluable. These services also provide alerts when your data is found on the dark web, allowing you to initiate password changes, credit freezes, or other security enhancements before someone else exploits your data.
However, you can get these alerts for free with tools like Have I Been Pwned . Whether you use a free or paid service, they won’t prevent your data from being leaked in the first place. The value of paid dark web monitoring tools lies in the additional features. Some services offer credit card monitoring and up to $1 million in insurance coverage to cover eligible losses and fees due to identity theft.
With such extra features, paying for a dark web monitoring service is certainly worth it, especially if you are at high risk of targeted attacks. However, free tools combined with good security can be enough for many individuals.
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