Google has started rolling out a new update to the Chrome browser which brings a bunch of new privacy and security features to the popular web browser. Chief among these is a new feature that will warn users if their passwords have been stolen or leaked in a data breach.
The feature will work across sites when you’re logging in to them via the browser, and will warn you in case your password has been stolen. The company will use strongly hashed and encrypted passwords to match your passwords and check if they have been stolen. Google will use a technique called “private set intersection with blinding” to do these checks. Users can control the feature from the Google Sync settings in the Chrome browser.
Apart from this, the browser now has a better phishing website protection system in place. Chrome used to use a list of known phishing sites that was refreshed every 30 minutes to warn users if they ended up visiting a phishing site. However, the company found out that scammers were quickly changing domains and hiding from the list. Google is now using a new technique that it believes should help detect 30% more cases of phishing on the browser.
Lastly, the browser is improving the visual indicator to show which profile is being used in Google Chrome. This should prove helpful for users who share their computer with other users, or users with multiple Google profiles (for work and personal use, for example).
Chrome 79 is rolling out now and these new features will be available gradually over the coming weeks. If you haven’t updated your browser, you can do so by heading to Chrome settings and clicking on ‘About Chrome’ to automatically check and install updates.
