| GUIDE | GDE-058 |
| TOPIC | Intelligence X (IntelX) |
| DOMAIN | Breach and leaked-data search |
| LAST UPDATED | September 2026 |
Short answer: Search the selector on the free tier of Intelligence X first, separate breach, paste, leak and darknet results by source, and corroborate any hit before relying on it. Treat leaked personal data as evidence to document, not material to keep.
What is Intelligence X?
Intelligence X is the practice of using intelx.io, a search engine indexing data breaches, leaked documents, darknet content, historical WHOIS records and paste-site dumps, to search an email address, domain, phone number or other selector across sources most conventional search engines do not index.
Intelligence X is a specialist search engine and data archive that indexes material conventional search engines generally do not: data breach dumps, paste-site content, leaked documents, darknet pages, and a large historical WHOIS record archive going back further than most registrars retain. A limited free search is available without an account; deeper search history, bulk export and API access require a paid subscription.
It sits in the same investigative category as Have I Been Pwned for breach exposure, but with a materially broader scope: rather than only confirming whether an address appears in a known breach, it can surface the actual leaked content, historical domain ownership records, and darknet mentions tied to a selector.
| • | Searching an email address, domain or phone number across leaked documents and breach dumps, not just breach names |
| • | Retrieving historical WHOIS records for a domain further back than a standard registrar lookup provides |
| • | Checking whether a selector appears in darknet content or paste-site dumps outside formal breach databases |
| • | Corroborating a Have I Been Pwned hit with the underlying leaked content where accessible |
How do you search Intelligence X effectively?
Six steps from a first free search through to handling any exposed leaked content responsibly.
The following resources are used across the steps below.
Intelligence X: Free limited search, paid tiers for deeper history and API access. The core search engine.
Signal & Shadow's Have I Been Pwned guide: Free. A narrower, free-first alternative for confirming breach exposure alone.