Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

 

Alexander Hanff Writes: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device! Two weeks ago I wrote about Anthropic silently registering a Native Messaging bridge in seven Chromium-based browsers on every machine where Claude Desktop was installed. The pattern was: install on user launch of product A, write configuration into the user's installs of products B, C, D, E, F, G, H without asking. Reach across vendor trust boundaries. No consent dialog. No opt-out UI. Re-installs itself if the user removes it manually, every time Claude Desktop is launched.

This week I discovered the same pattern, executed by Google. Google Chrome is reaching into users' machines and writing a 4 GB on-device AI model file to disk without asking. The file is named weights.bin. It lives in OptGuideOnDeviceModel. It is the weights for Gemini Nano, Google's on-device LLM. Chrome did not ask. Chrome does not surface it. If the user deletes it, Chrome re-downloads it.

The legal analysis is the same one I gave for the Anthropic case. The environmental analysis is new. At Chrome's scale, the climate bill for one model push, paid in atmospheric CO2 by the entire planet, is between six thousand and sixty thousand tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions, depending on how many devices receive the push. That is the environmental cost of one company unilaterally deciding that two billion peoples' default browser will mass-distribute a 4 GB binary they did not request.

Wow! Remember when the Internet blew up because Apple automatically downloaded a free U2 Album? I actually bought that album "Songs of Innocence" It's great - I'm listening to it now! It was a tiny download - which if you weren't a fan could simply delete. Still, loads of folks got in a mighty strop about that. ^^^ THIS is a big deal!!! Not cool Google, not cool! I'm waiting to see who is going to get their knickers in a knot over this huge download - which will affect most folks who have Google Chrome installed...

www.thatprivacyguy.com

Threats to the security of Google Chrome - propagated by Google's own Web Store!

Efforts to manipulate installation counts in Chrome Web Store extension listings appear to be alive and well, despite a developer's personal crusade to call attention to the problem.

Julio Marin Torres has been highlighting suspiciously popular Chrome extensions since January in posts to the Chromium Extensions forum, trying to get Googler to enforce their store policies.

In an email to The Register, he said Google has taken some action since his initial posts on the subject, but the problem has only gotten worse since then. "Something has to change," he said. "I think this hurts the entire Chrome Store developer and user community."

There are still thousands of extensions in the Chrome Web Store that artificially inflate their user count statistics, to make store visitors more inclined to believe the extensions are widely used and trustworthy.

Google Chrome is a great Web browser, but there are a number of vectors out there that can turn chrome from a great tool, into a misery! Extensions & Notifications are the biggest threats that I have to deal with on behalf of my clients. Have problems with Chrome? Contact Donline.

www.theregister.co.uk

Coming soon: Google Chrome to no longer show secure website indicators

 

Google Chrome will no longer show whether a site you are visiting is secure and only show when you visit an insecure website.

For years, Google has been making a concerted effort to push websites into using HTTPS to provide a more secure browsing experience.

To further push web developers into only using HTTPS on their sites, Google introduced the protocol as a ranking factor. Those not hosting a secure site got a potentially minor hit in their Google search results rankings.

It has appeared to have worked as according to the 'HTTPS encryption on the web' of Google's Transparency Report, over 90% of all browser connections in Google Chrome currently use an HTTPS connection.

Currently, when you visit a secure site, Google Chrome will display a little locked icon indicating that your communication with the site is encrypted, as shown below:

As most website communication is now secure, Google is testing a new feature that removes the lock icon for secure sites. This feature is available to test in Chrome 93 Beta, and Chrome 94 Canary builds by enabling the 'Omnibox Updated connection security indicators' flag. With this feature enabled, Google Chrome will only display security indicators when the site is not secure.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Google Chrome to warn when installed extensions are malware

Google is testing a new feature in the Chrome browser that will warn users when an installed extension has been removed from the Chrome Web Store, usually indicative of it being malware. An unending supply of unwanted browser extensions is published on the Chrome Web Store and promoted through popup and redirect ads.

These extensions are made by scam companies and threat actors who use them to inject advertisements, track your search history, redirect you to affiliate pages, or in more severe cases, steal your Gmail emails and Facebook accounts.

The problem is that these extensions are churned out quickly, with the developers releasing new ones just as Google removes old ones from the Chrome Web Store.

Unfortunately, if you installed one of these extensions, they will still be installed in your browser, even after Google detects them as malware and removes them from the store.

Due to this, Google is now bringing its Safety Check feature to browser extensions, warning Chrome users when an extension has been detected as malware or removed from the store and that they should be uninstalled from the browser. This feature will go live in Chrome 117.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

A cleaner, safer web with Google Chrome

Unwanted software impacts the browsing experience of millions of web users every day. Effects of this harmful software are often quite subtle—search results are modified to redirect users to other pages or additional ads are injected in the pages that users visit. But in some cases, the changes are so severe that they can make the web unusable—people are redirected to unwanted sites full of ads, and it can be next to impossible to navigate away from these pages.

Chrome already has tools to help people avoid unwanted software. For example, Safe Browsing prevents many infections from taking place by warning millions of users. But sometimes harmful software slips through.

Recently, we rolled out three changes to help Chrome for Windows users recover from unwanted software infections: Hijacked settings detection, a simpler Chrome Cleanup, & a more powerful Cleanup engine. 

We’ve begun to roll this out to Chrome for Windows users now. Over the next few days, it will help tens of millions of Chrome users get back to a cleaner, safer web.

 Donline has recommended Chrome for many years: as the go-to web browser for all. It's web standards compliant, fast & secure. Get it & enjoy the web as it's meant to be!

www.blog.google

What's new in Google Chrome v70?

Google have launched Chrome 70 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

The release includes an option to disable linking Google site and Chrome sign-ins, Progressive Web Apps on Windows, the ability for users to restrict extensions’ access to a custom list of sites, an AV1 decoder, and plenty more. You can update to the latest version now using Chrome’s built-in updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome.

With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser and a major platform that web developers must consider. In fact, with Chrome’s regular additions and changes, developers often must make an effort to stay on top of everything available — as well as what has been deprecated or removed.

www.venturebeat.com

Google is (finally) turning Chrome OS into Android to compete with the iPad

Google is a massive tech company with nearly two hundred thousand employees, so it definitely has the manpower and resources to develop two different operating systems in Android and Chrome OS. While both Android and Chrome OS have seen huge success in different markets, they’ve struggled to compete in one product category where they overlap: tablets. The high-end tablet market is dominated by the Apple iPad, and no matter what Google has tried, it has failed to change that. However, a source tells Android Authority that Google is working on a multi-year project to fully turn Chrome OS into Android, and the end result could be a platform that finally bests the iPad.

Android as an operating system is designed for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, TVs, cars, and soon XR glasses, whereas Chrome OS is primarily designed for laptops. While the term Chromebooks encompasses tablets as well, it’s fair to say that Chrome OS isn’t as suited for tablet use as Android is, at least when it comes to media consumption. On the flip side, it’s also a fair assessment that Android isn’t as suited for tablet use as Chrome OS is, at least when it comes to productivity. Google has tried to add features to both operating systems to bridge that gap, but even after a bit of convergence, neither platform managed to really eat Apple’s lunch.

www.androidauthority.com

Chrome malware masquerades as "missing font" files

New hack tricks users into downloading missing fonts loaded with malicious files

A security researcher has discovered a new hacking tactic on Google Chrome that manipulates websites into displaying missing font prompts, which then trick users into downloading malicious files.

The infection was first spotted on an unnamed WordPress website by Mahmoud Al-Qudsi, a researcher at cybersecurity firm NeoSmart Technologies, who detailed the process in a blog post.

The attack involves a hacker exploiting JavaScript to alter the rendering of content on a webpage, causing it to resemble mis-encoded text which appears as a jumble of symbols and shapes. The code then prompts the user to download the missing fonts through a Chrome language pack to decipher the text.

Clicking "Update" results in a file called "Chrome Font v7.5.1.exe" being downloaded and a second prompt encourages the user to run the file, all the while appearing as a perfectly safe Chrome download.

The attack is particularly well disguised and makes every attempt to appear a legitimate Chrome pop up, including the correct text formatting and right use of colours for the "Update" button.

www.itpro.co.uk

Microsoft Ports Anti-Phishing Technology to Google Chrome Extension

Microsoft has released a Chrome extension named "Windows Defender Browser Protection" that ports Windows Defender's —and inherently Edge's— anti-phishing technology to Google Chrome.

The extension works by showing bright red-colored pages whenever users are tricked into accessing malicious links.

The warnings are similar to the ones that Chrome natively shows via the Safe Browsing API, but are powered by Microsoft's database of malicious links —also known as the SmartScreen API.

An NSS Labs benchmark revealed that Edge (with its SmartScreen API) caught 99 percent of all phishing URLs thrown at it during a test last year, while Chrome only detected 87 percent of the malicious links users accessed.

To download the Chrome extension (browser plugin), click here.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Chrome 66 arrives with autoplaying content blocked by default

Google today launched Chrome 66 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The desktop release includes autoplaying content muted by default, security improvements, and new developer features. You can update to the latest version now using the browser’s built-in updater or download it directly from HERE.

With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser and a major platform that web developers have to consider. In fact, with Chrome’s regular additions and changes, developers have to keep up to ensure they are taking advantage of everything available.

The biggest improvement in this release is that autoplaying content with sound is now blocked by default. This functionality was delayed - it was originally slated for January with the release of Chrome 64 - but now it’s finally here. Horrah - not a minute too soon!

www.venturebeat.com

New Year, new password protections - in Chrome v88

Passwords help protect our online information, which is why it’s never been more important to keep them safe. But when we’re juggling dozens (if not hundreds!) of passwords across various websites—from shopping, to entertainment to personal finance—it feels like there’s always a new account to set up or manage. While it’s definitely a best practice to have a strong, unique password for each account, it can be really difficult to remember them all—that’s why we have a password manager in Chrome to back you up.

As you browse the web, on your phone, computer or tablet, Chrome can create, store and fill in your passwords with a single click. We'll warn you if your passwords have been compromised after logging in to sites, and you can always check for yourself in Chrome Settings. As we kick off the New Year, we’re excited to announce new updates that will give you even greater control over your passwords:

We’ve all had moments where we’ve rushed to set up a new login, choosing a simple “name-of-your-pet” password to get set up quickly. However, weak passwords expose you to security risks and should be avoided. In Chrome 88, you can now complete a simple check to identify any weak passwords and take action easily.

www.googleblog.com

Need more proof there are dodgy CAs (Certificate Authorities)? Here's an example

Google in two months will conclude its prolonged excommunication of misbehaving SSL/TLS certificate authorities WoSign and subsidiary StartCom, a punishment announced last October.

Chrome security engineer Devon O'Brien, in a Google Groups post on Thursday, said Google last year began limiting its trust of certificates backed by the companies to those issued before October 21st, 2016, and has been winnowing whitelisted hostnames over the course of several Chrome releases.

"Beginning with Chrome 61, the whitelist will be removed, resulting in full distrust of the existing WoSign and StartCom root certificates and all certificates they have issued," O'Brien said. "Based on the Chromium Development Calendar, this change should be visible in the Chrome Dev channel in the coming weeks, the Chrome Beta channel around late July 2017, and will be released to Stable around mid September 2017."

Like I said in this post - just because there is a padlock in the browser address bar doesn't necessarily mean the site is Kosher. Be warned & stay safe people!

www.theregister.co.uk

Firefox 89: Can this redesign stem browser's decline?

 

Mozilla has released Firefox 89, proclaiming it a "fresh new Firefox," though it comes amid a relentless decline in market share.

Firefox matters more than most web browsers, because it uses its own browser engine, called Quantum, and its own JavaScript engine, called SpiderMonkey. By contrast, most other browsers, including Chrome and Chromium, Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi use the Google-sponsored Blink engine, while Apple's Safari uses WebKit (from which Blink was forked). The existence of multiple independent implementations is important for web standards, helping to prevent a single vendor from pushing through changes without consensus, and ensuring that the standards are coherent.

A glance at a statistics site like W3Counter is telling. In April 2008, Microsoft enjoyed a 63 per cent market share with Internet Explorer, and with Firefox performing strongly behind it at 29.3 per cent. By April 2010, IE was down to 48.6 per cent, Firefox up to 32.7 per cent, and Google's newer Chrome was starting to make an impact, at 8.3 per cent.

In April 2012, the three were almost on a par, though Chrome (26.8 per cent) had overtaken Firefox (25 per cent). Today, Chrome is at 65.3 per cent, Safari second at 16.7 per cent, IE and Edge has 5.7 per cent, and Firefox has just 4.1 per cent share. 

Despite numerous updates, Mozilla's browser has declined from 6.1 per cent share a year ago. Statcounter tells a similar story, reporting a 3.59 per cent share for Firefox, down from 4.21 per cent a year ago.

www.theregister.com

MEGA.nz Chrome extension caught stealing passwords, cryptocurrency private keys

The official Chrome extension for the MEGA.nz file sharing service has been compromised with malicious code that steals usernames and passwords, but also private keys for cryptocurrency accounts, ZDNet has learned.

The malicious behavior was found in the source code of the MEGA.nz Chrome extension version 3.39.4, released as an update earlier today.

Google engineers have already intervened and removed the extension from the official Chrome Web Store, and also disabled the extension for existing users.

MEGA.nz sound familiar? Where have I heard that name before? 

Remember this guy: Kim Dotcom? Yup, it's his outfit...

www.zdnet.com

Which is the most secure Web Browser? Spoiler: it's Chrome!

The Pwn2Own 2017 hacking contest, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, concluded after three days in which security teams hacked away at browsers and operating systems. Microsoft’s Edge seems to have been hit the hardest, while Chrome remained unhackable during the contest.

Microsoft created the Edge browser by rewriting most of it from scratch (some parts were forked from Internet Explorer). The company’s goal was to have a browser that’s much more secure and that can keep up with Chrome and Firefox when it comes to supporting the latest web standards. Edge even implemented sandboxing technologies that were similar to what Chrome was using, which put it ahead of Firefox, which is still trying to play catch-up in this regard.

www.tomshardware.com

Google Chrome v64 kills pop-ups and redirects - available now!

Android is getting priority treatment again from Chrome as the stable version of Chrome 64 rolls out here ahead of Mac, Windows and Linux for the second release in a row. The version includes the usual bug fixes, plus a host of features designed to make browsing safer and easier. Malicious auto-redirects are out, with the browser blocking third-party iframes unless you've directly interacted with them, and an improved pop-up blocker will stop shady sites from opening new tabs or windows from accidentally-clicked play buttons and transparent overlays.

The release also brings site-wide audio muting, which should help put an end to frantic searching among tabs to quieten noisy pages. The addition is part of Google's drive for more streamlined media autoplay behavior, and can be activated from a new sound menu, accessed via Settings > Site settings. Android users can get Chrome 64 from the Play Store over the coming weeks.

www.engadget.com

Hotel chain switches from Windows and Mac to Chrome OS to recover from ransomware attack

A Scandinavian hotel chain that fell victim to a ransomware attack last month said it took a novel approach to recover from the incident by switching all affected systems to Chrome OS.

Nordic Choice Hotels, which operates 200 hotels across Northern Europe, fell victim to a ransomware attack on December 2, when hackers encrypted some of its internal systems using the Conti ransomware strain.

The attack prevented staff from accessing guest reservation data and from issuing key cards to newly arriving guests, as one of the hotel’s guests told The Record in an interview last month.

But in a press release, Nordic Choice said that instead of contacting the hackers and negotiating a ransom for the decryption key that would have unlocked the infected devices, the hotel chose to migrate its entire PC fleet from Windows to Chrome OS.

Nordic Choice said they used a tool called CloudReady, which can prepare and port old Windows and macOS computers to Chrome OS setups.

www.therecord.media

Google fixes Chrome 'evil cursor' bug abused by tech support scam sites

Google has patched a Chrome bug that was currently being abused in the wild by tech support scammers to create artificial mouse cursors and lock users inside browser pages by preventing them from closing and leaving browser tabs.

The trick was first document back in 2010, but only recently entered the arsenal of tech support scammers --in September 2018, when it was spotted by Malwarebytes analyst Jerome Segura. Called an "evil cursor," it relied on using a custom image to replace the operating system's standard mouse cursor graphic.

A criminal group that Malwarebytes called Partnerstroka operated by switching the standard OS 32-by-32 pixels mouse cursor with one of 128 or 256 pixels in size.

A normal cursor would still appear on screen, but in the corner of a bigger transparent bounding box.

The trick was that users would think they'd be clicking where the cursor would appear, but they would actually click in another area of the screen, preventing them from closing popups and browser tabs due to inaccurate clicks.

The "evil cursor" fix is currently live for Google Canary users, and is scheduled to land in the Chrome 75 stable branch, to be released later this spring. FYI: Chrome is currently at v73.

www.zdnet.com

Still using Windows 7, 8 or 8.1? Here's another reason to move to Win 10

With the release of Google Chrome 110 (tentatively scheduled for February 7th, 2023), Google will officially end support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. You’ll need to ensure your device is running Windows 10 or later to continue receiving future Chrome releases. This matches Microsoft's end of support for Windows 7 ESU and Windows 8.1 extended support on January 10th, 2023.

Older versions of Chrome will continue to work, but there will be no further updates released for users on these operating systems. If you are currently on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, we encourage you to move to a supported Windows version before that date to ensure you continue to receive the latest security updates and Chrome features.

support.google.com

Google Chrome for Windows gets a battery performance boost

Google responds to Microsoft criticism that Chrome is a battery hog by introducing new power consumption enhancements.

Back in June, Microsoft hit out against Google by publishing test results which claimed that its Edge browser had the edge over Chrome when it came to power-saving on portable systems. Google has now responded by introducing new power consumption enhancements to the Windows version of its browser.

www.zdnet.com

Download the new Google Chrome v35