Password Protection is a privacy tool that informs you if your passwords have been leaked online in a data breach and secures the passwords stored in your web browsers. If left unprotected, passwords stored in web browsers are vulnerable to malware and theft by unwanted applications. This feature allows you to choose which applications have access to your saved passwords. Refer to the sections in this article to learn how to manage the settings available for Password Protection.

Check for leaked passwords

Follow the steps below to check if any online accounts that use your email address have already been involved in a data breach:

1. Open Avast One, then select Explore ▸ Password Protection.
2. Click Open Password Protection.
3. Enter the email address you want to check, then click Check data breaches.

Password Protection searches for data breaches involving the email address you entered, then displays details of any affected online accounts. Refer to the relevant information below:

• If you see the Compromised passwords message at the top of the screen, we have found that at least one of your online accounts has been involved in a data breach. We recommend you immediately change the passwords for all listed accounts.
• If you see 0 Passwords next to your email address, we have not found any data breaches involving your online accounts.

If you have the paid version of Avast One, optionally click Monitor for new breaches to set Password Protection to continuously monitor for data breaches involving this email address.

Monitor for data breaches

In the paid version of Avast One, you can set Password Protection to continuously monitor up to 5 email addresses for data breaches. Your Avast Account email address is automatically added as a monitored email address. To add an additional monitored email address:

1. Go to Explore ▸ Password Protection.
2. Click Open Password Protection.
3. Select the Breach monitoring tab, then click + Add an email.
4. Enter your email address, then click Monitor for data breaches.
5. A message with a verification link is sent to your email address. Open the email and follow the instructions to confirm that the email address is really yours. Then return to Avast One and click Email is verified ▸ Done.

Avast One will now continuously monitor this email address for new data breaches. You can check for breached online accounts at any time by clicking the Compromised passwords tab on the main Password Protection screen.

Remove an email

To remove an email address from the Breach monitoring tab:

1. Click … (three dots) next to the relevant email address, then select Remove email.
2. Click Stop protecting to confirm.

Manage browser protection behavior

In the paid version of Avast One, the Browser protection tab contains settings for protecting your passwords stored in browsers and managing which applications are allowed or blocked access to those stored browser passwords.

Protect browser passwords

Password Protection automatically protects your passwords that are saved in the following browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge
• Avast Secure Browser

To temporarily disable this protection:

1. Select the Browser protection tab, then untick the box next to Protect browser passwords.
2. Select a time duration.
3. Click OK, Stop to confirm.

Access to browser passwords

To adjust how Password Protection handles applications that attempt to access your stored passwords:

1. Click the drop-down arrow to select an action for when a new application tries to access your saved passwords.
2. Select your preferred setting:
   • Automatically block access: Applications are automatically blocked without any notification. Blocked applications are added to the app permissions list.
   • Ask me to allow or block the first time (selected by default): You are asked to grant permission when an application tries to access your passwords.

Manage app permissions

When an application attempts to access your saved passwords, it is added to the app permissions list with the status set to Blocked or Allowed, depending on the setting or permission you granted. You can also manually add applications to the app permissions list by following the steps below:

1. Select the Browser protection tab and scroll to the App permissions section.
2. Click + Add application.
3. Select an app using either method below:
   • Click Add next to an application in the list.
   • Click Select app location, then navigate to an application and click Open.
4. The chosen application is added to the App permissions list with the status set to Blocked. Optionally, click the slider to change the status to Allowed if you want the application to always be able to access your stored passwords.

To remove an application from the app permissions list, tick the box next to the relevant application, then click Remove app.

Troubleshooting

If you find that a trusted application cannot access your stored passwords, check the following:

• Ensure that the application is not marked as Blocked on the app permissions list. If it is marked as Blocked, click the slider to change the status to Allowed.
• Ensure you have selected the setting Ask me to allow or block the first time. If Password Protection is set to Automatically block access, Avast One automatically prevents all unknown applications from accessing your stored passwords.
• Add the application to the app permissions list and set the status to Allowed.

Further recommendations

For more information about Password Protection, refer to the following article:

• Password Protection - Frequently Asked Questions