Google Just Upgraded Chrome's Real-Time Security On PC And iPhone, What About Android?

Google Chrome users are about to get a more secure browsing experience thanks to some updates coming to desktop and iOS. Google Safe Browsing will be getting real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection, while useful additions are coming to Password Checkup. Android users will need to wait a little bit, as these upgrades will be making their way to them later in March. It’s odd that such an important update won’t make its way to Android at the same time but, at least users won’t have to wait too long to make use of it.

According to Google “Safe Browsing assesses more than 10 billion URLs and files every day, showing more than 3 million user warnings for potential threats.” It does this by checking files or sites against a list saved on a user’s device that is refreshed every 30 to 60 minutes. However, Google’s research shows that dangerous sites can exist for as little as 10 minutes, making this solution less than ideal.
To mitigate this issue Google Chrome will now be comparing files and sites against a list hosted on Google's servers, which will mean real-time protection. Google estimates that by switching to this method Chrome will be able to prevent 25% more phishing attempts than the current solution. Google says the real-time protection “uses encryption and other privacy-enhancing techniques to ensure that no one, including Google, knows what website you’re visiting.”

Meanwhile, Password Checkup will now be able to alert users if their password is weak or if they are reusing it on other sites and accounts. This will be on top of the warning users receive if a password has been compromised. This is a great security upgrade as some users can still struggle with getting strong enough passwords, and keeping track of which password they’re using on any given site.

While there will undoubtedly be some privacy concerns with the real-time protection upgrade, Google is doing a good job of giving its users the tools they need to remain safe online. Although Android users might be miffed, wondering why they’re going to get these updates after iOS users.