In the next Chrome app update google could include a feature to help users in case of password theft
Google Chrome is ready to launch a new feature that helps users do, in one click reset stolen passwords. The novelty, currently in beta testing, could arrive as early as the next version of Chrome, the 86 version scheduled for early October 2020. It would be, therefore, just around the corner.
This feature, very useful for users who have many login credentials to protect, is already known to Apple fans. In fact, Apple's Safari browser introduced something similar back in 2018 to defend usernames and passwords kept in Safari Web version 13 and iCloud's virtual keychain. On Chrome, however, the feature is a "semi-absolute" novelty, because it's actually an evolution of something that's already there. And that will affect a lot of people, since according to StatCounter and NetMarketShare data Google Chrome would now have a share of the browser market equal to 68% of web surfers.
Password at risk: the novelty of Chrome?
What is it, exactly? It starts with the features already present in Chrome: in case of a data breach report, that is, a data theft from some site that has a database of usernames and passwords, Google Chrome performs an in-portfolio check of the login credentials saved in its users' profiles.
If the users' data is part of the data stolen by hackers, then the user is at risk and needs to change passwords. So Chrome sends a notification to the user to tell him to do it as soon as possible, because that password is dangerous.
Google Chrome: how to change password
The next step is the upcoming novelty: when the user receives the notification and clicks it, he is sent directly to the reset page of the compromised password. The next step is a new thing that is coming: when the user receives the notification and clicks on it, he is sent directly to the reset page of the compromised password. All this, as long as the site in question complies with the criteria of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which require the presence of a page dedicated to password reset with its own specific URL.
In this case too, Google Chrome users must say thank you to Apple, because since the bitten apple introduced the password change function many sites have adapted and become compliant with W3C rules. The current version of Chrome has a very similar function, but less refined: the link that the user can click on leads to the home page of the site for which it is necessary to change the access data.
Passwords: why it is important to keep them under control
Thanks to Google's latest feature in chronological order dedicated to data protection, keeping passwords under control and limiting damages in case of data breach becomes easier, if not immediate. This, however, should not overshadow the good practices of the network: cyclically change the password, do not reuse the same credentials for the creation of accounts on different sites and use passwords of at least medium complexity to avoid the possibility of throat to some indiscreet virtual eye.