Sundar Pichai Tweets New Password Protection Feature For Google Chrome

Google's Chrome browser will now warn its users if their passwords have been compromised when they log in to a website, the tech giant's CEO Sundar Pichai said today.

"To help keep you safe online, @googlechrome will now warn if your username & password have been compromised when you type them into a website," Mr Pichai tweeted.

He also assured that the browser will give real-time alerts if users visit a malicious website. "We're also enhancing phishing protections to be real-time on desktop to alert you when visiting malicious sites," he further wrote. Phishing is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers.

To help keep you safe online, @googlechrome will now warn if your username & password have been compromised when you type them into a website. We're also enhancing phishing protections to be real-time on desktop to alert you when visiting malicious sites. https://t.co/XuStf4sKQP

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) December 10, 2019

In a blog titled "Better password protections in Chrome", Google elaborated the latest addition. "Google first introduced this technology early this year as the Password Checkup extension. In October it became a part of the Password Checkup in your Google Account, where you can conduct a scan of your saved passwords anytime. And now it has evolved to offer warnings as you browse the web in Chrome," the blog read.

Google claims to keep "over four billion devices every day" by showing warnings to users when they attempt to navigate to dangerous sites or download dangerous files". With its Safe Browsing service, Google lets client applications check URLs against constantly updated blacklist of unsafe web resources. The blacklist refreshes every 30 minutes. 

The service works across Google products including Chrome, which claims to be the most secure browser in the world. 

The latest addition comes after Google included its Lens image recognition technology to the Chrome browser for smartphones. Google Lens allows a user to search for similar photographs, not just exact copies.