GOOGLE is urging more than 3billion Chrome users worldwide to update their browsers or risk becoming the target of a cyber attack.
The US tech giant said Monday that it had released an emergency patch for the service that includes 11 crucial security fixes.
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They’re designed to mend bugs in Chrome that, if left exposed, could be exploited by cybercriminals.
Google confirmed in a blog post that one of the exploits, CVE-2022-0609, exists “in the wild”.
That means hackers are aware of the software flaw and are using it to launch attacks on unsuspecting users.
It’s rated as a “high priority” vulnerability that could enable an attacker to run code on a targeted computer.
Six additional vulnerabilities fixed in the update were marked as “high” priority, while one was marked as “medium”.
The severity of the remaining three remains a mystery. Vulnerabilities are marked on a scale from “low” to “critical” priority.
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Critical flaws are generally those that require urgent fixing, typically because they expose the browser to malicious hackers.
Google did not go into detail on the nature of the patched issues, or what cyber sneaks could achieve if they exploited them.
This is standard industry practice to stop hackers from exploiting them before users have had a chance to update their browsers.
Its free update, which has been given the catchy moniker 98.0.4758.102, also includes stability and performance improvements, Google said.
The software patch will roll out for Windows, Mac and Linux “over the coming days/weeks,” Google said.
To make sure you’re safe, all Google Chrome users are advised to update as soon as possible.
How to update Google Chrome
On your computer, open the Google Chrome browser and click the More icon (three vertical dots) in the top right.
Click Update Google Chrome, or if that option isn’t there, it means you’re already using the latest version.
Once you’ve updated, click Relaunch.
The browser will save your open tabs and windows and re-open them when it restarts.
You can also restart your browser later on by clicking Not Now.
This will cause the update to be applied the next time you restart your browser.
The More icon will be coloured (1) green if an update has been available for two days, (2) orange if an update has been available for four days, or (3) red if an update has been available for seven days.
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In other news, Norfolk County Council is suing Apple over what it says was misleading information about iPhone sales.
The creators of a chilling new horror game say that the title is so disturbing they’ve been forced to censor it on PlayStation.
Apple has announced updates to AirTags following claims that the coin-sized tracking devices are being used to stalk people.
And, Boeing has sunk $450million into a flying taxi startup that hopes to whisk passengers across cities by the end of the decade.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
