How to Protect Your Computer with Google Chrome?

One of the major factors that have separated Google Chrome browser from others is its focus on security. With the internet full of malicious attacks, Google has implemented different mechanism to protect Chrome users from such malicious content. The popular browser has inbuilt cleanup tool, the malware scanner, and the safe browsing features. This guide will teach you how you can protect your computer from online threats using these Chrome security features.

Related: How to protect your Windows PC?

Protect Your Computer with Google Chrome

1. Safe browsing
2. Cleanup malware using Chrome cleanup tool
3. Use extensions

1. Using Chrome Safe Browsing Feature

Chrome has a safe browsing feature that protects users against malicious activities. It displays warning when trying to access a dangerous website or downloading a malicious file. Moreover, it notifies the web owners when their sites are under attack, and helps them resolve the security issues for the safety of the site visitors.

To enable safe browsing in Chrome:

• Open Google Chrome and click on the three dots menu button located on the top right corner. Then select “Settings” option form the menu.

• At the bottom of the “Settings” page click “Advanced” option to go to advanced settings.

• Under the “Privacy and security” section, scroll down and switch on the “Safe browsing” option.

The feature protects your computer by issuing warnings about dangerous and deceptive content. This may include:

• Blocking you from visiting sites containing malware.
• Protection against phishing sites.
• Blocking malicious ads or downloads.
• Protection against malicious social engineering attacks.

You can enhance your browsing safety by turning on the “Help improve Safe Browsing” option located in the “Privacy and security” section of the Chrome settings page. Enabling this feature allows sending of some system information as well as page content to Google to improve detection of malicious sites or programs. The information sent may include site URLs, snippets and headers from the content page and details about any malicious program, files or registry information detected in your computer.

2. Cleanup Your Computer Using Chrome Malware Scanner

Malware is the worst nightmare that can happen to you online. The Chrome malware scanner is an important tool that protects users from various forms of attacks like ransom ware and other malicious actions. The tool scans all your browsing data and the entire computer to detect any harmful programs in the computer. If detected the malware will be automatically removed by the Chrome cleanup tool.

To scan your computer for malware in Chrome:

• Open the browser and navigate the Chrome menu, then select “Settings” from the menu options.
• Click “Advance” at the bottom of the “Settings” screen.
• Scroll down and under the heading “Reset and clean up”, select the “Clean up computer” option to access the cleanup page.

• Alternatively, you can launch the “Clean up computer” screen by directly typing “chrome://settings/cleanup” on the Chrome address bar and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
• Click the “Find” button on the right side of the “Find and remove harmful software” option.

• The Chrome malware scanner and cleanup tool will find and remove any harmful programs found in your computer.

Note Chrome cleanup tool is available only on Windows version. Also this is not a replacement for your antivirus software, it will only help to remove software that impacts Chrome’s operation.

3. Protect your Computer Using Chrome Extensions

Chrome supports several security extensions which can protect your browsing activities. These extensions range from malicious ads blocker to crypto miner blockers and can be helpful in protecting your computer. You can go to Chrome Web Store in order to download and install Chrome security extensions.

• Type “chrome://extensions/” on the browser address bar. This will display all the installed extension allowing you to enable or disable a specific extension.

• To add security extension, click on the extension settings menu on the top-left corner of the screen.
• At the bottom of the menu, select “Open Chrome Web Store”.

• This will open the Chrome web store in a new tab. Search your preferred extension and click the “Add to Chrome” button to install the extension on your browser.

Some of the popular Chrome security extensions include:

• JustBlock Security – To block malware and increase your browser speed.
• Miner Block – To block cryptocurrency mining scripts thus protecting your computer hardware.
• AdBlock – Helps to block suspicious and annoying advertising on websites when using Google Chrome.

Summary

In summary, Chrome ensures that your computer is safe at all times. You can use Chrome in-built features such as malware scanner and cleanup tool or Safe Browsing feature to enhance your online security. Additionally, Chrome supports various security extensions to keep you safe from online malicious attacks. If the above options did not work for you, try resetting Chrome to factory defaults to cleanup the browser.