Google launches major Chrome update with a new alert users must not ignore to keep their bank accounts safe from thieves

GOOGLE has added a new password security alert that works in real-time to keep its users accounts safe from cyber crooks.

The password boost forms part of a wider security upgrade that is first rolling out to iPhone and PC users, and then Android owners later this month.

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Before, Google only told users if their password was leaked in a data breach.

But now, users will receive an alter that will not only flag compromised passwords, but passwords that are weak or have been reused.

Passwords get leaked in data breaches fairly regularly.

These kinds of incidents can affect thousands of people at any one time.

Just days ago, TV streaming company Roku revealed that more than 15,000 customer accounts had been compromised in two separate cyber attacks since December.

The hijacked Roku accounts were being sold on the Dark Web for as little as 50 cents each, according to Bleeping Computer.

It’s important to have strong and unique passwords for each of your accounts.

If a password that was leaked in a breach is one used for multiple accounts, then those accounts are put in jeopardy as well.

Passwords: best practice

A strong password makes a secure account.

The first tip is to make sure you have a different password for each of your accounts.

According to experts at Bitdefender, attacks like the ones Roku experienced succeed because “so many people still make the mistake of reusing the same passwords in different places on the internet”.

“Despite warnings,” experts write, “reusing passwords is unsafe behaviour – as a breached service’s password database can be used by hackers to access other accounts.”

A 20 character-long random password containing uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers is the most secure you can get.

While these can be a nightmare to remember, people should avoid storing their passcodes on their browsers.

Instead, it’s important to adopt a trusted password manager – like Google’s own – that can keep track and encrypt all your passwords.

Google is rolling out a wider upgrade to its Safe Browsing’s Standard protection that means it will be able to check dodgy sites for malware in real-time.

Previously, Safe Browsing’s Standard protection checked the sites you visited against a local list on your device that is refreshed every 30 to 60 minutes. 

But this wasn’t keeping web surfers properly protected, since the “average malicious site actually exists for less than 10 minutes,” according to Google.

This will “check sites against Google’s server-side list of known bad sites in real time,” and is expected to block 25 per cent more phishing attempts.

Google Chrome – what you need to know

Here’s a quick guide…

• Google Chrome is a web browser created by Google
• It’s cross-platform, which means it works on a range of systems including Microsoft Windows and Apple’s iOS
• The browser also serves as the main part of Chrome OS – Google’s own operating system
• Most of Chrome’s code comes from Chromium, an open-source project built by Google
• Google Chrome is Google’s general-release browser based on Chromium, but anyone can build a Chromium app
• The full Google Chrome browser is completely free to download and use
• And according to StatCounter, around 68% of all web browsers globally are Google Chrome
• That’s down from a peak of 72%
• Google Chrome was first released on September 2, 2008

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk