Subj : Google Chrome update means youre safer online, and brings in a ni To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Fri Dec 22 2023 12:00:05 Google Chrome update means youre safer online, and brings in a nifty feature to organize your tabs Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 11:47:31 +0000 Description: Google has made some considerable improvements to Chrome in the December update for the browser. FULL STORY ====================================================================== Googles Chrome browser is getting some smart new features including measures to keep you safer when online. Chromes December update changes things so that the existing Safety Check feature runs automatically in the background, popping up alerts in certain scenarios. That includes when Google detects that any of the passwords youve saved in Chrome have been compromised. Youll also be warned if any extensions installed are potentially malicious, and about any site permissions which are needing to be okayed. The feature will also revoke site permissions like access to the microphone or camera if you havent visited a website in a long time. Similarly, sites you dont use much that are sending a lot of notifications will be flagged up to allow you to disable those notifications if you prefer. Finally, Safety Check will also inform you if you need to update Chrome. Safety Check alerts will be flagged up in the three-dot menu at the top-right of Chrome (used to summon the browsers main menu). The new Chrome update also introduces Tab groups, which are just as youd imagine collections of tabs you can save in a group, to fire back up together when needed. This functionality may not be present for you yet, but its rolling out to Googles browser over the next few weeks. Google also reminds us that its web browser now shows the memory usage of any tab when you hover over that tab with the mouse cursor, a handy little addition for finding out if any particular tab is being a resource hog. (Although thats somewhat less of a problem now Chrome can be set to sleep tabs that arent currently active). (Image credit: Google) Analysis: Safety first (and second) Previously, Safety Check was a feature that you had to run manually by delving into Chromes Settings, and having the check run itself periodically is a useful move in terms of shoring up the security of the browser. Its also good that this incorporates tidying up bits and pieces like revoking permissions for sites youve not visited for ages if you no longer use a website, why have these more intrusive (camera, mic, etc) permissions in place, after all? Alerts for compromised passwords will always be a useful security feature, too, for those who save their passwords directly to the browser. Proactive prompts to update Chrome when a new version is available are also good to see. Some nasty security holes can pop up in Googles browser or any software, to be fair and getting them patched pronto is always a good idea. Indeed, we saw a worrying vulnerability in Chrome just yesterday, so its worth checking your browser is updated right now. Google finishes its blog post about these latest Chrome changes by noting that features are inbound for the browser which will use its next-gen Gemini AI model , so those should be interesting additions. Those capabilities are arriving early next year, apparently. Via Ghacks You might also like Swamped with browser tabs? Chrome could soon use AI to organize them for you Google forces a new look for Chrome but you can get rid of it if you hate it Google Chrome is copying this essential Edge feature - finally ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/chrome/google-chrome-update-means-youre-sa fer-online-and-brings-in-a-nifty-feature-to-organize-your-tabs --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .