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Google has introduced three additional features in Chrome to protect users against spam, scams and other online threats. These include context-rich warnings with more insights, automatic deep scans for Enhanced Protection users, and scanning encrypted files and metadata.
Context-rich warnings
The newly designed Chrome downloads interface now leverages additional space to provide more detailed warning messages about potentially harmful files. Unlike previous warnings, the updated alerts offer nuanced insights, helping users make better-informed decisions.
“Taking advantage of the additional space available in the new downloads UI, we have replaced our previous warning messages with more detailed ones that convey more nuance about the nature of the danger and can help users make more informed decisions,” Google said.
Chrome’s two-tier warning system distinguishes between suspicious files and dangerous files. While the former carries a lower confidence verdict, indicating an unknown risk of harm, the latter is flagged with a high confidence verdict, indicating a significant risk of damage.
These warnings are differentiated through distinct colour schemes and graphics for better user choice.
Automatic deep scans
For users who have opted into Chrome’s Enhanced Protection mode, Chrome now automatically performs deep scans on suspicious files before they are opened, eliminating the need for manual scans.
“We’ve found these additional scans to have been extraordinarily successful – they help catch brand new malware that Safe Browsing has not seen before and dangerous files hosted on brand new sites,” Google researchers note.
Enhanced Protection users consent to send a small portion of their downloads to Safe Browsing for scrutiny. These files undergo thorough security checks and are promptly deleted post-verdict.
Countering encrypted archive evasion
Google has also introduced tailored solutions for Enhanced Protection and Standard Protection users to address the issue of hidden malware code within encrypted archives such as .zip, .7z, and .rar files.
“Attackers often make the passwords to encrypted archives available in places like the page from which the file was downloaded or in the download file name,” observed Google experts.
When Enhanced Protection users download suspicious encrypted archives, they are prompted to enter the file’s password, which enables Safe Browsing to decrypt and scan the contents. The file and the password are deleted shortly after the scan, ensuring user security and privacy.
Similarly, Standard Protection users are prompted to provide the file’s password. Still, the file remains on the local device in this mode, and only the metadata is checked against Safe Browsing’s database.
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