If you use an iPhone, Google has revealed with surprise that it is improving your security protection. There’s a catch, though.
Fortunately, protecting user data is one area where Apple and Google can work together, while being competitors in most other areas. This was previously observed, for instance, when the Security Engineering and Architecture team at Apple discovered a significant flaw in the Chrome web browser.
Google has now officially stated that the goal is to increase the security for Chrome browser users on the iOS operating system of the iPhone.
Google’s Robust Improvement To The Password Checking Features
The enhancements are provided by an upgrade to Password Checkup, which may already warn passwords you use if they are known to have been compromised and show up in dark web databases used by hackers and cybercriminals. For users of Chrome on iOS, Google is now expanding this feature to include two new features: a warning for weak passwords and another for password reuse.
Password Checkup can be used separately, but it will warn you in Chrome whenever it finds an issue with any passwords you enter. Go to Chrome settings and choose the Safety Check option to check your passwords without typing them while logging in someplace online.
Regarding the New Password Checkup Features, What Is Google Saying?
Google’s product managers for Chrome and safe browsing, Jonathan Li and Jasika Bawa, write on the Google Chrome products blog that the company is “introducing new password protections on Chrome for iOS as another way to help you safely navigate the web.” In an effort to “keep up with the increasing pace of hackers,” Google has also unveiled additional safeguards for secure browsing, such as “real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection” for Chrome users on desktop and iOS.
Android users will have to wait until “later this month,” according to Google.
Google Projects A 25% Increase In Phishing Attempt Blocking
You can read my description of how the recently updated standard safe browsing protection mode for iOS and desktop Chrome users operates in real-time here. However, Google has concluded that the new feature should “block 25% more phishing attempts.”
Practical iOS Password References
In the interim, Google has released an extremely helpful online tutorial explaining how iOS users can set up notifications to change their passwords. This takes you through the seven steps of being ready to receive those security warnings on your iPhone, starting with launching the Chrome app. Additionally, a 2024 Forbes Advisor tutorial will assist you with utilising Chrome on all platforms to save passwords.
All of which is presuming that you would like to convert to using Chrome for iPhone browsing. To be honest, you can have almost all the privacy and security features you may want with the pre-installed Safari browser choice along with additional iOS capabilities. The recently announced upgrades should be enthusiastically welcomed if you are entirely dedicated to an online Google ecosystem—although that does raise the question of why you need an iPhone.
