Chrome for Android and iOS can now alert you when your passwords are compromised
Google is improving the security and usefulness of mobile Chrome – for iOS and Android. Starting today, the mobile versions of the browser will alert you if any of the passwords you’ve asked it to remember have been compromised, and if so, how to fix them.
Not just that, but it will take you straight to the right ‘change password’ form after you’ve been alerted that the password is compromised, on whichever service you used it for. To check whether any of your passwords have been compromised, Chrome sends a copy of them to Google using a special form of encryption, that doesn’t allow Google to figure out what your usernames or passwords are.
Safety Check is also coming to Chrome mobile, in a future version of the browser. This can manually check for compromised passwords, let you know if Safe Browsing is enabled, and whether the version of Chrome you’re running has the latest security protections. On iOS, you will also be able to use Chrome to autofill saved login details into other apps or browsers. And to improve security on iOS, you’ll get a biometric authentication prompt before Chrome fills any passwords.
Coming to Android soon is Enhanced Safe Browsing, which proactively protects you against phishing, malware, and other dangerous sites by sharing real-time data with Google’s Safe Browsing service. The company says that among people who have enabled this on desktop, its predictive phishing protections lead to a roughly 20% drop in users entering their passwords into phishing websites. The downside, of course, is that now you’re sharing even more real-time data on your usage with Google.
