# How does Termius detect a leaked Encryption Password?

When you set a new Encryption Password for your account, Termius can check whether it appeared in known data breaches by using the [haveibeenpwned.com](https://haveibeenpwned.com/Privacy) service, or HIBP.

{% hint style="info" %}
Termius never sends the original password in plain text or enough information to reveal it.
{% endhint %}

The Termius app sends the first 5 characters of the SHA-1 hash of the user-provided password to the HIBP API, following [Cloudflare's k-anonymity model](https://blog.cloudflare.com/validating-leaked-passwords-with-k-anonymity/).

For example, take the password `pa$word`:

* The SHA-1 hash of the password is `617ADCC02712A40E76254BA1F3A26AF660F98EC7`.
* The first 5 characters of that hash are `617AD`.
* The remaining characters are `CC02712A40E76254BA1F3A26AF660F98EC7`.
* HIBP returns the possible matches for that prefix at <https://api.pwnedpasswords.com/range/617AD>.
* Then Termius checks whether the remainder listed above appears in the response.

```
...
CC02712A40E76254BA1F3A26AF660F98EC7:96
...
```

This means the password appeared in 96 known breaches.


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