Google to soon warn Chrome users for risky downloads

In a bid to help Chrome users against phishing attempts while browsing, Google is launching new safety features along with a new scanning tool for risky downloads.

Launched last year, the ‘Enhanced Safe Browsing’ feature will now offer additional protection when you install a new extension from the Chrome Web Store.

“A dialog will inform you if an extension you’re about to install is not a part of the list of extensions trusted by Enhanced Safe Browsing,” said Varun Khaneja, Chrome Security.

If you choose to send the file, Chrome will upload it to Google Safe Browsing, which will scan it using its static and dynamic analysis classifiers in real time.

“After a short wait, if Safe Browsing determines the file is unsafe, Chrome will display a warning. As always, you can bypass the warning and open the file without scanning. Uploaded files are deleted from Safe Browsing a short time after scanning,” added Badr Salmi, Google Safe Browsing.

According to Google, ‘Enhanced Safe Browsing’ users are successfully phished 35 percent less than other users.

“Starting with Chrome 91, we will roll out new features to help Enhanced Safe Browsing users better choose their extensions, as well as offer additional protections against downloading malicious files on the web,” the company said in a blog post on Thursday.

“For new developers, it will take at least a few months of respecting these conditions to become trusted. Eventually, we strive for all developers with compliant extensions to reach this status upon meeting these criteria,” the company said.

With the integration of Chrome Web Store with Google Safe Browsing in 2020, the number of malicious extensions that Chrome disabled to protect users grew by 81 per cent.