Safe Browsing Now Enabled by Default on Chrome for Android to Protect You From Sketchy Web Sites

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Published 8 Dec 2015

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Disclosure
Chrome’s Safe Browser mode is now flipped on by default in the Android version of Google’s browser. The change comes if you’re running Chrome 46 or higher and have Play Services 8.1 or above. If you run into a site identified as malicious, you’ll see an alert like this.
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Chrome for Android will warn you about the possibility of unsavory behavior.

Google said the challenge in bringing this feature to mobile is ensuring reporting and analyzing potentially harmful sites. Reported first are the riskiest sites. Attacks target social engineering phishing. Where they have a track record of popping up. To ensure you have Safe Browsing Mode enabled, open Chrome and head to Settings > Privacy.

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Chrome’s Safe Browsing must be on.

You can enable or disable Safe Browsing, along with several other features.

Why this matters: Google is highly interested in keeping web browsing safe, given Chrome’s large market share in the company’s advertising platform. It’s a good idea to keep Safe Browsing mode on. Attackers continue to grow increasingly sophisticated with their capabilities.