Yesterday, Google released an update for its Chrome browser, the 111. This update has focused, above all, on security, correcting 40 vulnerabilities and adding some security functions designed, above all, for companies. However, not all the security changes in this new browser update have been for the better, but there is one that will put our computer in danger, a little.
In 2015, Google introduced a tool called Chrome Cleanup Tool. This tool was designed to detect possible unauthorized changes to browser settings, changes that could have been made, for example, by a hacker. In addition, this tool was also capable of detecting and removing viruses and other malware from the operating system.
Since its launch, this tool has detected more than 80 million threats, from extensions installed in browsers to changes to the search engine, home page and new tabs.
Despite being a harmless, and even useful security tool, as is often the case, users did not like Google scanning their PC for malware, as it was supposed to be a privacy risk. Some even went so far as to block the Chrome Software Reporter Tool process, which is responsible for making this security feature work.
At this point, Google has made the decision to remove the feature entirely. And, starting with this new Chrome 111, the browser’s PC cleanup feature will no longer protect us from malware.
Goodbye Chrome Malware Cleaner
A few hours ago, Google published an article on its security blog where it explained why this security feature was removed. The first of these is that the threat detection rate on computers and in the browser itself has been reduced considerably, only detecting a threat in 0.06% of the computers analyzed.
Another reason why this feature is being removed is that both operating systems, antivirus software, and even Chrome itself have strengthened their native threat detection and removal features. Chrome analyzes all downloads that are made from the browser to detect possible dangerous filesand it also has advanced security features to block the installation of malicious extensions.
For all these reasons, Google has considered that this tool has become obsolete and is useless. Thus, the giant has decided to completely eliminate it from version 111 of the browser, a version that we should all have already installed. We can verify this by typing the internal URL of the malware cleaner in the browser and seeing how, indeed, it no longer shows anything.
chrome://settings/cleanup
Enhance security with advanced protection
If you’re concerned about the security of Chrome, you don’t have to worry. Google’s browser continues to have many other security features to keep us safe when we connect to the Internet. One of the best, and that we must activate manually on our computer, is the enhanced protection.
Thanks to it, we can be much better protected against possible threats, malicious websites and dangerous downloads that could endanger the security of our computer.
