First Page Design
Site Theme
Google Chrome’s “Safe Browsing” feature, which displays a giant red screen when you visit a malicious website, provides real-time updates for all users. Google announced the update on Google’s security blog. Real-time coverage naturally means sending URL knowledge to a remote server, however, Google says it will use “privacy-preserving URL coverage” so you don’t get a list of your entire browsing history. (It’s not that Chrome doesn’t have features that save your history or track it. )
Safe browsing essentially boils down to checking your existing online page rather than a list of known bad sites. Google’s previous implementation was local, which had the merit of not sending all of your browsing history to Google, but it did involve downloading the list of bad sites. in intervals of 30 to 60 minutes. There are a few issues with local downloads. First, Google claims that most bad sites have been around for “less than 10 minutes,” so a 30-minute update probably won’t catch up with them. Second, the list of all bad websites across the web will be very long and constantly developing, and Google is already saying that “not all devices have the resources for this developing list. “
If you really need to shut down malicious sites, you need to perform a real-time check on a remote server. There are many wrong tactics to do this. One solution would be to simply send each URL to the remote server and it would necessarily double the net site traffic for Chrome’s five billion users. To decrease those server requests, Chrome will download a list of well-known sites, and this will cover the vast majority of net traffic. Only small, unpublished sites will be subject to server verification, and even then, Chrome will keep a cache of your recent small site checks, so only check the server the first time.
When you’re not on the list of known safe sites or in the recent cache, your internet URL data will be routed to a remote server, but Google says it may not be able to see your internet history. Google verifies all of your URLs, as opposed to hashes, rather than the plain text URL. Previously, Google provided an “enhanced coverage” mode for browsing, which provided a block of newer malicious sites in exchange for “sharing more security-related data” with Google. Time mode preserves enough privacy will be implemented by default for everyone. The “Enhanced” mode is still provided, as it allows for “in-depth analysis of suspicious files and greater coverage against suspicious Chrome extensions. “
Interestingly, the privacy formula comes to a relay server that will be controlled through a third party. Google says, “For user privacy, we’ve partnered with Fastly, a leading cloud platform that provides content delivery, edge computing, security, and observability. “services, to function as an Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP) privacy server between Chrome and Safe Browsing. “
For now, Google’s remote checks, when they occur, will cause some latency while the security check is complete, but Google says it is “in the process of introducing an asynchronous mechanism, which will allow the site to load while the verification is being performed in real-time. “in progress. “” This will improve the user experience, as real-time verification will possibly not block page loading. “
The feature is expected to be available in the latest edition of Chrome for desktop, Android, and iOS. If it’s not required, you can turn it off in the “Privacy & Security” segment of Chrome’s settings.
Listing symbol via Getty Images
Join the Ars Orbital Transmission email to receive weekly updates in your inbox. Sign up →