Safety First: Google Chrome adds new safety tool to its extension

New Delhi: In efforts to make Google accounts safe by proactively detecting and responding to threats, Password Checkup – a new Google Chrome extension – will automatically conduct a verification procedure to check if your passwords have been compromised in a data breach. The extension, once installed, checks any login details you use against a database of around four billion usernames and passwords. The extension then warns you if it finds a match.

Google, in its blog post, stated, "We built Password Checkup so that no one, including Google, can learn your account details. To do this, we developed privacy-protecting techniques with the help of cryptography researchers at both Google and Stanford University."

A technique called as Blinding used to scan and match the password with Google's Database of usernames and passwords, without having the need to view them, Google said.

This is how you can install Password Checkup on Google Chrome:

· Open Chrome Web Store and type Password Checkup on the top left and click search.

· Once the search is finished, the tool name appears on the screen. Click on Add to Chrome.

· Confirm that you want to add the extension to your Chrome.

· Once the installation is done, a green colour shield will appear on the right of the address bar. You can now use the extension.

If you wish to read more on Google's newly introduced chrome safety features, click at the link https://www.blog.google/technology/safety-security/google-password-checkup-cross-account-protection/