Washington, DC - A quick easy way for Chrome Windows users to perform cleanups and stay safer online.
Your web browser is your portal to the internet. Think about it. You’d be lost without your browser. Browsers are your vehicle to the web, they render the sites you visit the way they’re intended to be viewed and they have built-in security measures to keep you safe.
Recently, Google rolled out a trio of new security improvements for Chrome Windows users. Unfortunately, Mac and Linux users won’t benefit from the changes – but their threat models are a little different, too. Google’s security updates were:
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Hijacked Settings Detection
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A Simpler Chrome Cleanup
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A more powerful Cleanup engine
Google wants to make finding and cleaning up any malicious programs or junk apps you may have picked up to be effortless and easy. This trio of updates is aimed at accomplishing just that.
Hijacked Settings Detection
As you browse the internet and download various items, you’re guarded by Google Safe Browsing, which generally filters for malicious files and bad web pages. Unfortunately, things can slip by undetected. Google’s Hijacked Settings Detection alerts you any time something you’ve downloaded attempts to access a setting it shouldn’t have permission to. It then reverts back to your default settings.
You can also reset your profile settings at any time by visiting chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings.
A Simpler Chrome Cleanup
For Windows Chrome users that have accumulated unwanted software in the course of using the internet, Google is simplifying the process for cleaning up the browser and removing the junkware. Anytime Google detects and unwanted program Chrome will prompt users with an alert and offer to remove the program for its users.
A More Powerful Cleanup Engine
Google has also improved the actual mechanism for detecting and cleaning up Malware, as well.
Under the hood, we upgraded the technology we use in Chrome Cleanup to detect and remove unwanted software. We worked with IT security company ESET to combine their detection engine with Chrome’s sandbox technology. We can now detect and remove more unwanted software than ever before, meaning more people can benefit from Chrome Cleanup. Note this new sandboxed engine is not a general-purpose antivirus—it only removes software that doesn’t comply with our unwanted software policy.
Wrapping Up
Google is trying to keep your computer free of unwanted software, including malware and junkware. These improvements will keep your settings secure, make your downloads safer and improves Google’s ability to remove any bad programs it does find.