Chrome can now detect hacked passwords on Android and iPhones

Chrome can detect hacked passwords. Image supplied

Google’s Chrome web browser version 86 added new security options on smartphones.

Google said Chrome running on your smartphone now can check whether your passwords have been hacked. The feature previously worked on personal computers but now works on Apple iPhones and devices powered by Google’s Android.

CHROME 86 RELEASE

The feature sends usernames and passwords to Google servers to check if they have been compromised in known data breaches. Google itself can’t see your usernames or passwords but can only check if they match ones that have been compromised.

Google’s password checks which arrives with the release of Chrome 86, only works if you use Chrome to store your passwords. The idea also is built into third-party password managers like 1Password and browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge.

CHROME DOMINATES BROWSER USAGE

Chrome dominates browser usage, and other browsers like Brave, Samsung Internet and Opera are built with Google’s open source Chromium browser engine.

Google is moving as fast as possible to make the web a vibrant competitor to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. Google’s browser push however conflicts with Apple’s priorities. This raises tensions in the tech industry as well as among developers.

The area where Google and Apple get along is with a new feature designed to make it easier for people to change passwords. The feature created by Apple engineers makes it possible for software like browsers or password managers to find a website’s address for changing passwords. Google now supports it in Chrome 86.

ENHANCED SAFE BROWSING

Chrome 86 on iOS also adds support for a protection that Chrome for Android already has. This is a touch to fill biometric authentication step needed before the browser auto fills your usernames and passwords into a website.

The new browser adds to Android devices a Google option called Enhanced Safe Browsing designed to cut down on phishing attacks to steal your username and password credentials or other sensitive information.

If you enable it, it will send real time browsing data to Google if you are logged in. This will allow Google to catch attacks that could evade Chrome’s ordinary list of blocked websites that is updated every 30 minutes.

It also lets Google check for related security problems with other services like Gmail and Google Workspace, the new name for Google’s G Suite productivity tools.