[The Next Web] With Chrome malware on the rise, Google adds automatic blocking of malicious downloads to latest browser build

Google today announced Chrome is getting automatic download blocking for malware the company detects. The feature has already been added to the latest build of Chrome Canary.

Chrome will soon automatically block downloads and let you know in a message at the bottom of your screen. You will be able to “Dismiss” the message, although it’s not clear if you will be able to stop the block:

In its announcement, Google notes criminals regularly try to trick users into installing and running malicious software by bundling it with free and sometimes fake screensavers, video plugins, or even supposed security updates.

As we know, these downloads are rarely what they claim to be. As Google notes:

These malicious programs disguise themselves so you won’t know they’re there and they may change your homepage or inject ads into the sites you browse. Worse, they block your ability to change your settings back and make themselves hard to uninstall, keeping you trapped in an undesired state.

Google says Canary is “the most bleeding-edge official version of Chrome and somewhat of a mix between Chrome dev and the Chromium snapshot builds.” While the addition of any specific feature in Canary doesn’t guarantee it will ship in Chrome one day, the fact Google is announcing the feature means automatic malware download blocking is a question of “when” rather than “if.”

More to follow.

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