With a market share of about 70%, Google Chrome It is the most used web browser in the world. Every day, millions of users rely on it to surf the Internet, visit all kinds of web pages and, apparently, be safe. However, a few days ago, all users of this browser have been exposed to all kinds of computer attacks due to a serious vulnerability that allows hackers to take control of the victims’ computers.
This same weekend, Google announced an emergency update for its web browser. This update focused solely on fixing a security bug, logged as CVE-2022-3723, which could be used by hackers to compromise user security. For security reasons, Google will not release detailed information about the security problem until most users have updated their browser, but what we do know is that the flaw is in the javascript v8 engine. This bug is very similar to another found in March 2022, which put both Google Chrome users and those using other Chromium-based browsers, such as Edge, at risk.
The seriousness of this security flaw, and the importance of update as soon as possiblelies in the fact that, as Google explains, the vulnerability is being used by hackers actively on the network, so this is a known bug that needs to be mitigated as soon as possible.
Refresh the browser
Google has addressed this security issue with a new update for the stable version of its browser. In this way, all users who have the browser installed must ensure that the version they have on their PC is equal to, or higher than, the version 107.0.5304.88. If we are using a version prior to this, we will be in danger.
Google Chrome configures automatic updates in Windows. While we use the browser, the new version is downloaded in the background and when we close and reopen it, it is installed on the PC normally. Therefore, almost certainly we do not have to worry, since we will certainly be properly protected. Anyway, we can check the installed version very easily. Just type in the address bar the command «chrome://settings/help«, and see the version that appears installed.
If there is a new version, it will be downloaded and installed automatically. Otherwise, if we already have it up to date, we will see a message that tells us that Chrome is up to date, and we will not have to worry.
A bad year for Google Chrome security
Of course, it is not being a good year for the security of Google Chrome. The browser is encountering a large number of security flaws, many of them zero-day and actively exploited by hackers, which are putting users at risk. Luckily, Google’s response times are very good, and in a very short time (a matter of hours, or a few days) we can already have the new version available to protect us from all these problems.
