Google has introduced a significant update to Google Safe Browsing, offering real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection for users of Chrome on desktop and iOS devices. This update also includes new password protections for Chrome on iOS.
Google Safe Browsing
Safe Browsing, already safeguarding over 5 billion devices globally, now provides instant warnings against phishing, malware, and unwanted software.
This upgrade aims to further fortify user security by checking sites against Google’s constantly updated list of known malicious sites in real-time. By adopting this approach, Google anticipates blocking approximately 25% more phishing attempts.
Previously, Safe Browsing relied on a locally stored list, which was updated every 30 to 60 minutes. However, Google’s research revealed that malicious sites often exist for less than 10 minutes.
The new real-time protection employs encryption and other privacy-enhancing techniques to ensure user privacy while browsing.
How It Works
The transition to real-time protection necessitates checks against a server-side list maintained by Safe Browsing.
When a user visits a website, Chrome first checks its cache for safety. If the site is not in the cache, Chrome performs a real-time check. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the process:
- Chrome encrypts and obfuscates the URL before sending it to a privacy server.
- The privacy server strips potential user identifiers and forwards the encrypted data to the Safe Browsing server.
- Safe Browsing decrypts the data and matches it against its database, issuing a warning if a match is found.
Keeping Your Data Private
To safeguard user privacy, Google partnered with Fastly to operate an Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP) privacy server. This ensures that neither Safe Browsing nor Google sees users’ IP addresses during the URL checks.
Before leaving the device, Chrome encrypts the data, which can only be decrypted by Safe Browsing. This layered approach ensures that browsing activity remains private.
Staying Speedy and Reliable
Despite the additional latency introduced by real-time checks, Chrome employs various techniques to maintain browsing speed.
These include caching known-safe URLs and implementing fallback mechanisms in case of slow requests.
Enhanced Protection Mode of Safe Browsing
For users seeking heightened security, Google recommends enabling the Enhanced protection mode of Safe Browsing.
This mode utilizes advanced machine learning models to offer protection against newly created or cloaked malicious sites, along with additional safeguards against suspicious files and Chrome extensions.
Updates to Password Checkup
Password Checkup on iOS now identifies not only compromised passwords but also weak and reused ones. Users receive alerts regarding password issues, and they can check their passwords anytime via Chrome Settings.
Availability
The real-time feature of Safe Browsing is enabled by default for Chrome on desktop and iOS, with Android support expected later this month.