Open Avast BreachGuard

Enable browser protection

Avast BreachGuard scans your web browsers for weak, duplicated, or breached passwords. Additionally, the application offers personalized tips to protect your online privacy by scanning your browsing history and bookmarks.

To ensure that Avast BreachGuard is protecting all of your installed browsers:

1. Open Avast BreachGuard and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Select the Browsers tab.
3. Perform your preferred action:
   • Start protecting: Click the red (OFF) slider next to a browser so that it changes to green (ON).
   • Stop protecting: Click the green (ON) slider next to a browser so that it changes to red (OFF).
4. If prompted, enter the password you use when you start your Mac and click Allow. You may need to enter your password multiple times. Click the Always allow button to ensure that you no longer need to enter your password to enable or disable browser protection for the current browser.

After you enable browser protection for a web browser, Avast BreachGuard immediately checks it for weak, duplicated, or breached passwords and notifies you about any found issues on the application dashboard. You can resolve these issues via the Risk Monitor tile.

Protect your online accounts

When Avast BreachGuard detects threats linked to your online accounts, the Risk Monitor tile shows the status: privacy threats.

To resolve detected threats:

1. Open Avast BreachGuard and click Risk Monitor.
2. Avast BreachGuard shows a list of your vulnerable or breached online accounts. You may see the following threat types:
   • Breached account (High Risk Threat): Hackers and thieves can access this account because the login credentials were leaked online.
   • Using breached password (High Risk Threat): This account is extremely vulnerable because the password was leaked online.
   • Weak password: This account is vulnerable because the password does not meet our safe password criteria.
   • Reused password: This account is vulnerable because the password is used to access more than one account.
3. Click Show details next to a listed service to start resolving the detected threats.
4. When the side menu appears, click Change password to load the website for the relevant service in a new browser window.
5. Click Change password to load the website for the relevant service in a new browser window.
6. Log in to the account using your current login credentials.
7. Create a new strong password via your account settings.
8. After changing your password, return to Avast BreachGuard and click Mark as changed below the relevant account details.
9. After changing your password, return to Avast BreachGuard and click Mark as changed next to the relevant account details.
10. Click Close.
11. For each listed threat, click Show details, then follow steps 4-8 above.
12. For each listed threat, click Show details, then follow steps 4-7 above.

Your online accounts are now secure. You are notified as soon as Avast detects any additional threats linked to your online accounts.

Add a new monitored email address

Avast BreachGuard continuously monitors the internet for data breaches involving your Monitored email accounts. You can add an unlimited number of monitored email accounts.

To add a new monitored email account:

1. Open Avast BreachGuard and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Select the Emails tab, and click add new email account.
3. Select the Email tab, and click add new email account.
4. Type your new email address into the Add email box and click Save. If the message check your inbox to verify appears next to the email address, you need to go to your email inbox and verify that the email address is really yours.
5. Open your email inbox and locate the email from notification@emails.avast.com with the subject Please verify your email.
6. Click the Verify my email link included in the email.

When you return to Avast BreachGuard, the new email account appears on your Monitored email accounts list with a green tick to show that it is verified.

Avast BreachGuard immediately checks for weak, duplicated, or breached passwords associated with this email address and notifies you about any found issues on the application dashboard. You can resolve these issues via the Risk Monitor tile.

Send data removal requests

Personal Info Remover simplifies the complex and time-consuming task of removing your personal info from data broker databases by submitting data removal requests to the data brokers on your behalf.

Follow the steps below to send your first removal requests:

1. Open Avast BreachGuard and click the Personal Info Remover tile.
2. Use the drop-down menu to select your location, then click Start removal.
   
   For locations other than the USA, Canada, and Mexico, you are prompted to install Avast Online Security & Privacy in your web browser.
3. In the Info removal request form, fill out all required fields and click Send requests.

Avast immediately begins processing your removal requests. This process can take up to 48 hours.

Avast BreachGuard notifies you as soon as you need to send subsequent data removal requests. You may receive the following notifications:

• New data collectors: Avast BreachGuard has identified additional data brokers. Click the Personal Info Remover tile to submit new data removal requests.
• Re-run your requests: Avast BreachGuard recommends re-submitting data removal requests to all identified data brokers. This action is recommended every 3 months, because certain data brokers may start collecting your personal information again after removing it. Click the Personal Info Remover tile to re-submit the data removal requests.

Install Avast Online Security & Privacy

The Avast Online Security & Privacy browser extension lets you control who has access to your private data, and warns you about malicious websites and phishing scams.

You can install Avast Online Security & Privacy directly via the Avast BreachGuard application by following these steps:

1. Open Avast BreachGuard and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Click Extensions in the left panel.
3. Click Extensions in the top panel.
4. Click Install next to your preferred web browser and follow the on-screen instructions to install Avast Online Security & Privacy.
   
   For detailed installation instructions, refer to the following article:
   • Installing Avast Online Security & Privacy
   

We recommend installing Avast Online Security & Privacy in each of the browsers installed on your PC.

We recommend installing Avast Online Security & Privacy in each of the browsers installed on your Mac.

To learn more about Avast Online Security & Privacy, refer to the following articles:

• Avast Online Security & Privacy - Frequently Asked Questions
• Avast Online Security & Privacy - Getting Started

Learn about Identity Assist

The Identity Assist feature in Avast BreachGuard allows you to speak to one of our Identity Assist experts free of charge 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Our experts offer two separate services depending on your needs:

• ScamAssist®: Our experts can investigate potentially fraudulent solicitations (including emails, letters, and phone calls) on your behalf.
• Identity Resolution: If you are a victim of identity theft, or you believe you may be vulnerable to identity theft, our experts can immediately take the appropriate action to remedy the situation.

To learn more about Identity Assist, click the Identity Assist tile on the Avast BreachGuard dashboard.

For detailed information about Identity Assist and to learn how to use this service, refer to the following article:

• Identity Assist - Frequently Asked Questions

Further recommendations

To learn more about about Avast BreachGuard, refer to the following article:

• Avast BreachGuard - Frequently Asked Questions