This Google Chrome feature can protect you from malware and phishing attacks | Tech News

This Google Chrome feature can protect you from malware and phishing attacks

Google Chrome Safe Browsing helps you keep a list of all the potential threats. Know how this feature keeps you protected from malware and phishing attacks.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 10 2022, 21:19 IST
Google just banned these Play Store apps! Beware! Did you download any? Check full list
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1/7 Android smartphone users are again at risk! Cybersecurity researchers have reported about a new malware threat called Autolycos. The worrying part is that the malware has chosen the widely used Google Play Store platform to disseminate the malware to the victim’s phone via apps, Express.co.uk reported (Pixabay)
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2/7 Moreover, not just one or two, but a total of eight apps on the Google Play Store have been reported to be spoiled with this dangerous malware. The report says that there have already been 3 million installs of these apps, which is concerning because that means there are so many people who are being swindled and whose privacy is being violated. (Unsplash)
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3/7 The danger of Autolycos malware is that the users find it hard to detect the apps with this malware in them and meanwhile, it performs malicious activities including, even reading SMS on the device. Not just that, shockingly, the malware is capable of even paying for premium services without letting the victim know! (Unsplash)
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4/7 List of apps on Google Play Store infected by Autolycos malware: Vlog Star Video Editor, Creative 3D Launcher, Wow Beauty Camera, Gif Emoji Keyboard, Freeglow Camera 1.0.0, Coco Camera v1.1, Funny Camera’, and Razer Keyboard & Theme’. (Unsplash)
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5/7 Collectively, all these apps have a total of 3 million installs. This simply means, around 3 million Android smartphone users are in danger. (Unsplash)
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6/7 However, the good news is that Google has banned these malware-affected applications from the Play Store. Still, Android users are advised to monitor background internet data and battery consumption constantly to keep themselves safe against these malware threats. (Unsplash)
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7/7 Also, cybersecurity researchers should try to minimize the number of apps you install on your smartphones. In case, these apps or any data related to them are available on your device, then you should immediately delete them now. (Unsplash)
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Know all about this Google Chrome safe browsing feature. (Pixabay)

Online browsing comes with responsibility as users can be tricked into sharing sensitive information and end up becoming victims of phishing attacks. Online fraudsters can steal passwords with misleading or fake websites or install malicious software or malware. To avoid falling into the trap of such nasty activities, Google Chrome comes with a security feature that lets you protect yourself from such threats on the internet. This is called Safe Browsing protection. Chrome uses the Safe Browsing service from Google to identify and ward off various threats while browsing online.

You should be aware that when you navigate to a webpage on the internet, your browser fetches objects hosted on the internet such as images, links, downloads, other webpages embedded in the main webpage, and more. Each of these links can potentially host threats to your device. From phishing websites, malware, unwanted downloads, and malicious software to unfair billing practices. In such cases, Chrome Safe Browsing works as a shield to protect you from threats while checking all links, redirects or included resources.

“Safe Browsing works in different ways depending on the user's preferences. In the most common case, Chrome uses the privacy-conscious Update API (Application Programming Interface) from the Safe Browsing service. This API was developed with user privacy in mind and ensures Google gets as little information about the user's browsing history as possible,” Google said in a blog post. Here's how Safe Browsing helps you stay safe from phishing and malware attacks.

Chrome Safe Browsing keeps you protective from online threats

  • This Safe Browsing feature provides you a list for each threat it protects you against on the internet. You can find a full list by visiting chrome://safe-browsing/#tab-db-manager on desktop platforms.
  • Google further explains that a list does not contain unsafe web addresses, also referred to as URLs, in entirety. However, it maps a URL, which can be very long, through a cryptographic hash function to a unique fixed size string, which is called a hash.
  • The list is updated following the Update API's request frequency section. These updates happen roughly every 30 minutes.

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First Published Date: 10 Aug, 18:23 IST
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