ID: IRCNE2011061137
Date: 2011-06-11
According to “TechWorld”, Google updated Chrome to version 12, adding a new tool that warns users when they've downloaded files from dangerous websites. The company also patched 15 bugs in the browser.
New to Chrome 12 is a feature that flags dodgy files pulled from the web. Chrome now shows an alert when users download some file types from sites that are on the Safe Browsing API (application programming interface) blacklist, which Google maintains. The messages reads: "This file is malicious. Are you sure you want to continue?" If they wish, users can ignore the warning and save the file to their system's hard drive.
"This warning will be displayed for any download URL that matches the latest list of malicious websites published by the Safe Browsing API," said Google. Safe Browsing already identifies suspicious or unsafe sites, then adds them to a blacklist. Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari all tap into Safe Browsing to warn users of risky sites before they actually visit them. But by expanding its use of Safe Browsing to signal users of not just malicious sites, but also the downloads that come from them, Google is following in Microsoft's footsteps.
Internet Explorer 9, which launched in mid-March, uses something Microsoft calls "SmartScreen Application Reputation" to rank the probability that a download is legitimate software. Files that don't appear legit trigger a warning if users try to run or save them after downloading.
The update also fixed 15 vulnerabilities in Chrome. Six were rated "high," the second most severe ranking in Google's threat system, six were ranked "medium" and three were tagged as "low." None of the vulnerabilities was pegged as "critical," the category reserved for bugs that may let an attacker escape Chrome's anti-exploit sandbox.
Chrome 12 can be downloaded for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux from Google's website. Users already running the browser will be updated automatically.
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