Google announced that it has just extended their protective umbrella to its millions of Chrome users on Android. Now available by default, the new Safe Browsing client on Android warns Chrome users on dangerous sites while preserving their privacy, similar to the protection they get from using their desktop.
Google said that it has improved the way they detect potentially harmful apps as a way to keep up with adversaries who never cease to hone their skills in making Android app users unsafe. Users should also know that not all dangers come from using apps, the company noted.
One of the first things to consider is keeping an up-to-date list of bad sites that can be accessed on a mobile device. Google wanted to make sure that they are able to warn people prior to browsing a site which can be a trap in disguise.
"Social engineering - and phishing in particular - requires different protection," said Google on a blog post. "Providing this protection on a mobile device is much more difficult than on a desktop system, in no small part because we have to make sure that list doesn't get stale, yet."
Unlike the desktop, using mobile data is absolutely more expensive which can be true to most users around the globe. Google also said that mobile data speeds, compared to Wi-Fi, are slower. Moreover, the quality of cellular connectivity is often deemed as more uneven. It is therefore critically important to get the right data to one's mobile device as quickly as possible.
"Our mantra is that every single bit that Safe Browsing sends a mobile device must improve protection," said Google. "Network bandwidth and battery are the scarcest resources on a mobile device, so we had to carefully rethink how to best protect mobile users."
Google's compression team is working on using as little data as they can when they report malicious sites. This way, they are able to help preserve the user's network bandwidth and battery life. Also, Google said it will begin with the riskiest sites first when they send the information.
"Together with the Android Security team, we made the software on the device extra stingy with memory and processor use, and careful about minimizing network traffic," said Google. "We must not waste our users' data plans, or a single moment of their battery life."
