Researchers believe AI tools are fueling a dramatic 42% surge in the amount of leaked credentials circulating for sale on the dark web. Each year, automated scrapers and human-operated groups comb through dark web forums, paste sites, and underground marketplaces to collect and repackage hundreds of millions of username–password pairs. Many organizations remain unaware of the full scope of these leaks until it’s too late, because breach disclosures are often delayed or incomplete.

To help raise awareness, Outpost24 recently launched a free credential checker which runs a quick scan to see if your organization’s email domain is linked to credentials leaked on the dark web. By entering an email address with a corporate domain, you gain an instant email report on whether that domain appears in our database of stolen credentials. This gives a first indicator into whether you should shift focus into protecting your employees’ credentials and get to the root of potential leaks or stealer infestations.

The prevalence of credential leakage

Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report confirmed that stolen credentials are still the most common initial access vector. When analyzing web application attacks, 88% involved stolen credentials. Attackers have mastered the art of weaponizing stolen credentials through automated tools and botnets that perform “credential stuffing” at scale. In a matter of minutes, millions of username–password combinations can be tested against corporate VPN portals, webmail gateways, and internal applications.

Outpost24’s VP of DRP Development, Alex Knol, had this to say about organizations wanting to get visibility over leaked credentials: “We built our full digital risk protection solution, CompassDRP, to bring instant clarity to what’s out there and what criminals already know about you. Now with our free credential checker, anyone can get a piece of that view for themselves in just a few clicks.

“Stolen credentials are still one of the easiest ways in for attackers. With this tool, we’re giving organizations an initial, no-strings-attached overview into the scope of their exposure and where to start remediation efforts. We’ve made it incredibly simple. No setup, no scanning of your environment, just provide an email address to get an overview of the scope of credentials related to your organization exposed in the dark web – all pulled from real-time threat intelligence.”

Why leaked credentials are so common

Users frequently reuse passwords across multiple services, meaning a compromise on one system can cascade into breaches elsewhere. Publicly exposed API keys, SSH credentials, and cloud access tokens add further attack vectors that go unnoticed by perimeter defenses. Given the sheer volume of compromised accounts circulating online, relying on reactive detection alone leaves security teams perpetually one step behind.

Beyond direct compromise, leaked credentials are prized by attackers as they also fuel advanced phishing and social engineering schemes. When attackers know an employee’s legitimate login details or internal email address, they can craft highly convincing spear phishing messages that coax users into revealing MFA tokens or running malicious attachments. The downstream effects include data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, and regulatory fallout. Mitigating these risks requires timely visibility into which credentials have already been exposed and prioritizing them for immediate remediation.

Why scan for compromised credentials?

Scanning the dark web for compromised credentials helps cybersecurity teams to proactively identify and remediate account takeovers before they manifest into larger breaches. Dark web monitoring services continuously crawl underground forums, marketplaces, and paste sites where threat actors exchange stolen usernames, passwords, API keys, and other sensitive tokens.

By integrating these feeds into security operations workflows, incident responders can cut off hackers’ access by flagging exposed credentials as soon as they appear. From there, you can force password resets, MFA enrollment, or credential rotation.

Beyond immediate incident response, dark web credential checks also provide strategic insights that inform long-term risk management and threat modeling. Trends in the volume, origin, and sophistication of leaked credentials help security architects understand which systems or regions are most targeted. They can prioritize hardening efforts, and tailor user awareness training around the latest phishing or social engineering campaigns.

Correlating dark web findings with internal audit logs or SIEM alerts can also reveal patterns of credential reuse or lateral movement. This helps security teams to refine detection rules and elevate their overall security posture.

How does Outpost24’s credential checker work?

Our credential checker is a free tool, designed to be used for awareness and to give some important initial visibility over your organization’s leaked credentials. We don’t collect or display individual email addresses or passwords. The tool is powered by the Outpost24 CompassDRP platform – our full and comprehensive DRP solution that also monitors social media, data leakage, and your wider dark web footprint.

The check works in three simple steps

1. Our tools scans the dark web for credentials linked to your e-mail domain and web assets.
2. It discovers the amount of compromised credentials and the most common reason.
3. We assess your organization’s exposure and advise on prioritizing remediation efforts.

The only input we need from you is a corporate email address from which we take the domain. We’ll then send you an email with data on how many hits we find in our stolen credentials database for:

• Leaked email accounts related to your domain
• Stolen credentials for any websites or applications running on your domain
• The most prevalent malware responsible for your leaked credentials

What if you’re concerned about the results?

If your scan returns results that warrant a deeper investigation, feel free to get in touch with Outpost24’s security experts to learn how to automate dark web monitoring, orchestrate incident response workflows, and enforce real-time credential rotation across your organization.

Start with the free check today and discover how easy it is to turn breach data into actionable insights, then scale up seamlessly if you decide you’re ready for enterprise grade protection.

Request your free check – all you need is an email

Looking to get a quick snapshot of your breached credentials exposure without committing to a full-scale solution? Within minutes, you’ll see a straightforward summary of your domain’s exposure on the dark – no registration required, no trial periods, and no credit card details needed. Try today for free.