Google is rolling out new safety features for Chrome designed to help users better identify risky downloads and extensions. The new security features are built on Google’s Enhanced Safe Browsing feature, which the tech giant launched a year ago to provide better warnings against phishing websites.
“Enhanced Safe Browsing will now offer additional protection when you install a new extension from the Chrome Web Store. A dialog will inform you if an extension you’re about to install is not a part of the list of extensions trusted by Enhanced Safe Browsing,” Google’s Badr Salmi and Varun Khaneja wrote in a blog post.
That means that when a user attempts to download an add-on that’s not trusted, Chrome will show a pop-up warning that they should “proceed with caution.” However, there’s still the option to “continue to install” the extension.
For an extension to be trusted, it needs to come from a developer that has complied with Google’s Developer Program Policies “for at least few months,” the company explained. That means that extensions provided by new developers won’t be immediately trusted.
At present, nearly 75% of all extensions on the platform are compliant, the company pointed out.
Additionally, Chrome is also adding a new scanning feature for suspicious-looking downloads. For any downloads that Safe Browsing deems risky, but not clearly unsafe, Enhanced Safe Browsing users will be presented with a warning and the ability to send the file to be scanned for a more thorough analysis.
If a user chooses to do so, Chrome will perform the security check and display a warning if it determines the file to be unsafe.
Google said the new features are rolling out in stages for Chrome 91, released late last month.