Google tests malicious download warning for Chrome

A new feature that is aimed at protecting Chrome users against the inadvertent download of malicious files is being rolled out by Google.

“It’s easy to find sites hosting free downloads that promise one thing but actually behave quite differently,” says Moheeb Abu Rajab of the Google Security Team. “Such sites usually don’t attempt to exploit vulnerabilities on the user’s computer system. Instead, they use social engineering to entice users to download and run the malicious content.”

When the download URL on which the user clicks matches an entry in the latest list of malicious websites published by the Safe Browsing API, the above warning will pop up.

For the time being, the feature has been introduced only into Chrome’s development release channel, but if it roves to be effective, users can look forward to experiencing it in the next stable release for the browser.