Google will add malicious download notifications to Chrome

By Konrad Krawczyk August 14, 2014

google will add malicious download notifications chrome — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Internet is full of pitfalls, including malicious pop-ups, email attachments, and downloads. Google knows this, and the tech giant is attempting to make Web surfing a little less stressful by adding notifications to Chrome that will tell users whenever it blocks a malicious download. Google made the announcement in this official blog post.

Related: Best free anti-malware software

Recommended Videos

Google says that starting sometime next week, users of the firm’s Chrome browser should see pop-ups that warn them whenever something on the Internet attempts to put something on your computer that attempts to change your browser settings or homepage without your approval.

Related: Windows 9 Threshold is coming: Here are the latest rumors, leaks, and more

The notifications will read like this, for example: “Virus.exe may harm your browsing experience, so Chrome has blocked it.”

“You should be able to use the web safely, without fear that malware could take control of your computer, or that you could be tricked into giving up personal information in a phishing scam,” Google’s Moheeb Abu Rajab, Staff Engineer of Google Security security says.

However, if you so choose, you’ll be able to dismiss the notification, and download the item in question anyway.

This is an expansion of Google’s Safe Browsing system, which aims to protect Web surfers from malicious sites. It’s unclear if this new feature of Safe Browsing will be available for use with other browsers once it’s released.

Topics

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

Computing

Google just gave up on its proposed makeover of the internet

Google Chrome browser running on Android Automotive in a car.

Google announced on Monday that it will pull the brakes on phasing out the use of third-party cookies on its Chrome browser because of concerns from regulators, competitors, and privacy advocates, the tech giant said in a Privacy Sandbox post. Instead, Google will be going in a different direction that will let users choose how they interact with third-party cookies.

Blocking third-party cookies would have presented a hurdle for remarketing, which lets companies serve you ads based on your previous activity around the web.

Computing

It’s time to add one more service to the Google graveyard

A woman using a HP Chromebook laptop while sitting at a bright green table with a cup of coffee, all in front of a colorful background.

Google is killing yet another service: the Google URL Shortener. As Dare Obasanjo comments on X, any links using the goo.gl shorter will break after August 25, 2025.

When Google offers a service, millions of people use it and it becomes embedded in every corner of the internet -- and then when Google kills a service, countless things break, and it causes a whole lot of inconvenience for a whole lot of people.

Computing

I finally switched to Microsoft Edge for this one feature

The Microsoft Edge browser on a flat surface.

Microsoft Edge has gotten increasingly better over the years, but I've stuck with Google Chrome -- perhaps by habit, if nothing else. After all, a web browser is the kind of application I don't want to think about. That's why the flashier features of recent updates to Chrome, Edge, or even Arc haven't swayed me. I don't use Copilot, Collections, or even tab groups. That left me defaulted to Chrome.

I'm now using Microsoft Edge, though -- and it's not because of the most common complaints about Chrome, such as its well-documented memory usage. No, no. My reason for deciding to leave Chrome for Edge is based on a feature that was actually launched way back in 2022. For the longest time, I ignored the Edge sidebar -- after all, the less clutter in my web browser, the better.