Google on Wednesday announced it has improved protections against malicious files that Chrome users download from the internet.
Since last year, Chrome users have been receiving more context when the browser protects them from potentially malicious files, courtesy of two types of warnings that leverage AI-powered malware verdicts from Safe Browsing to explain if a blocked file is suspicious or downright dangerous.
The warnings feature different iconography, color, and text, making it easier for users to make informed decisions, and have resulted in “fewer warnings bypassed, warnings heeded more quickly, and all in all, better protection from malicious downloads”, Google says.
Users in the Enhanced Protection mode of Safe Browsing in Chrome were prompted to send suspicious files for deep scanning before opening them, but the internet giant has now moved to automatic deep scans instead of prompting the users each time.
“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. In fact, files sent for deep scanning are over 50x more likely to be flagged as malware than downloads in the aggregate,” Google explains.
Additionally, the internet giant is tackling malware distributed via password-protected encrypted archives with two mechanisms for the different Safe Browsing protection modes Chrome users have selected.
Given that the passwords for those encrypted archives are typically available on the page where the file was downloaded from or in the file’s name, Enhanced Protection users are now prompted to send the archive and the password to Safe Browsing.
“Uploaded files and file passwords are deleted a short time after they’re scanned, and all collected data is only used by Safe Browsing to provide better download protections,” Google says.
For Standard Protection mode users, a prompt requesting the archive’s password will be displayed, but the file remains on the device and only the metadata of its contents is checked against Safe Browsing and the file is flagged if previously analyzed and categorized as malware.
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