Imagine finding out your personal data was stolen. But you hear it from a watchdog, not the company that lost it. That’s the future Proton is building. The Swiss tech firm just launched a powerful new tool for data breach transparency.
It’s called the Data Breach Observatory. This system will constantly monitor the dark web. It looks for stolen data that hackers are trying to sell.
Uncovering breaches in real-time
Proton just announced its newest initiative that aims to help better online security by spotting data breaches on time, even before the companies themselves acknowledge it. Proton is known for its secure apps like Proton Mail and Proton VPN. They already have a dark web monitoring feature for their users, but this new project is much bigger. It will hunt for all data breaches advertised online.
The goal is to give everyone “previously unobtainable transparency.” Companies are often slow to admit they’ve been hacked. Sometimes they never disclose it at all. Proton’s observatory could alert the public and the companies themselves simultaneously. In some cases, it might even discover breaches before the companies do.
To show its value, Proton shared some 2025 findings. They already spotted 794 breaches this year. These incidents exposed over 300 million records from identifiable sources. The true scale is even larger. If you count all the older data still floating around out there, the total shoots up to hundreds of billions of records.
Small and medium-sized businesses really take the brunt of it, almost half the breaches happen to companies with just 10 to 249 employees. Retail and wholesale sectors take the hardest hit. They were follow by tech and media companies.
Your data on the dark web market
So, what are criminals actually selling? Proton compiled a list of the most common items. It turns out, your basic identity is the hottest commodity.
- Email addresses are in 100% of the data exposures.
- Hackers find names in 90% of stolen data sets.
- Contact info like phone numbers and addresses appear 72% of the time.
- Nearly half of all data breaches include passwords.
- Truly sensitive data, like health or government records, makes up 34% of exposures.
The observatory will continuously monitor these dark web markets. Proton will then release timely reports for everyone. This free service could help you secure your data faster by doing what’s needed in case you see your data on the dark web.
Why early warnings matter now more than ever
This new initiative highlights a major problem. Companies often stay silent after a data breach while it’s no joke as hackers have forced many to shut down in the past.
Recent incidents drive this point home. The ransomware attack on Ticketmaster and 2024 data theft of Santander bank were both claimed by a hacker group called ShinyHunters. Stolen data from these breaches and other similar incidents appeared for sale on a dark web forum soon after.
This highlights why Proton’s tool is an exciting development. How quick data from these breaches appear on the dark web is the problem. It leaves millions of people exposed to phishing and fraud. They are unaware they need to protect themselves.
Proton’s Data Breach Observatory could change this dynamic.
It acts as an independent early-warning system. By spotting this stolen data the moment it appears online, Proton can sound the alarm. This gives you a crucial head start.
You can change passwords and enable security features before a company even sends you an email. For those who need to personally check for their own exposed data on the dark web, this early notice is critical, but it’s essential to use the right security tools, such as one of the best VPNs for dark web access, to ensure your own safety during the process. Nevertheless, in a world of constant data leaks, that early notice is gold. It can go a long way.
