Google Chrome steps up security against malware

After Flash and a PDF reader, Google is now offering another key built-in feature to its Chrome browser: potential security from malicious downloads via social engineering. Moheeb Abu Rajab of the Google Security Team said this is one step further from the "Safe Browsing" API (Web protocol) that warns users they are visiting malicious Web pages. "(We’re) pleased to announce a new feature that aims to protect users against these kinds of downloads, starting with malicious Windows executables. The new feature will be integrated with Google Chrome and will display a warning if a user attempts to download a suspected malicious executable file," Rajab said in a post on the Google Chromium and Online Security blogs. The new feature follows the same privacy policy currently in use by the "Safe Browsing" feature, but will not enable Google to determine the URLs a user is visiting. With the new feature, an attempt to download a suspected malicious executable file will prompt Chrome to issue the message: "This file appears to be malicious. Are you sure you want to continue?" Presently, the "Safe Browsing" API allows browsers, including competing products such as Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari, to check with a blacklist of infected sites. But Rajab said that while "Safe Browsing" has done much good for the Web, the Internet remains rife with deceptive and harmful content. "It’s easy to find sites hosting free downloads that promise one thing but actually behave quite differently. These downloads may even perform actions without the user’s consent, such as displaying spam ads, performing click fraud, or stealing other users’ passwords. Such sites usually don’t attempt to exploit vulnerabilities on the user’s computer system. Instead, they use social engineering to entice users to download and run the malicious content," Rajab said. Rajab said Google will start with a small-scale experimental phase for a few users who subscribe to the Chrome development release channel. Google expects to make the feature available to all users in the next stable release of Google Chrome. "We hope that the feature will improve our users’ online experience and help make the Internet a safer place," Rajab said. — TJD, GMA News