Google Chrome and Browser Security

Google Chrome includes features to help protect you and your computer from malicious websites as you browse the web. Chrome uses technologies such as Safe Browsing, sandboxing, and auto-updates to help protect you against phishing and malware attacks.

Safe Browsing

Chrome will show you a warning message before you visit a site that is suspected of containing malware or phishing.

A phishing attack takes place when someone masquerades as someone else to trick you into sharing personal or other sensitive information with them, usually through a fake website. Malware, on the other hand, is software installed on your machine often without your knowledge, and is designed to harm your computer or potentially steal information from your computer.

With Safe Browsing technology enabled in Chrome, if you encounter a website suspected of containing phishing or malware as you browse the web, you will see a warning page like the one below. Learn more about how Safe Browsing works.

Google Chrome Safe Browsing

Sandboxing

Sandboxing helps prevent malware from installing itself on your computer or using what happens in one browser tab to affect what happens in another. The sandbox adds an additional layer of protection to your browser by protecting against malicious web pages that try to leave programs on your computer, monitor your web activities, or steal private information from your hard drive.

Auto-updates

To make sure that you are protected by the latest security updates, Chrome checks for updates regularly to make sure that it's always kept up-to-date. The update check ensures that your version of Chrome is automatically updated with the latest security features and fixes without any action required on your part.

To learn more about how you can make full use of Chrome's security features, check out the following articles:

Interested in the technical details? Read our blogposts on sandboxing, Safe Browsing, and new security features to protect users against threats such as XSS and click-jacking. You can also learn more about security, sandboxing and Safe Browsing in the Chrome comic book.