Google Chrome provides more detailed information about fraudulent downloads and performs an automatic scan.

Google Chrome is offering users more detailed information about why certain downloads seem suspicious. Google describes in a blog post that it will replace previous warning messages in Downloads with more detailed messages that offer more nuance and are designed to help users make an informed decision. Users who have the Safe Browsing enhanced protection mode can already send files to Google for a thorough scan. Chrome is now switching to automatic deep scans and adding new warning notifications.

Preventing malicious downloads

According to Google, password-protected archive files are often used to spread malware that can steal cookies, passwords, or other login credentials. Chrome recently improved the download experience on desktops, but now has a new design to better protect users from malicious files.

This redesign of the download menu provides more space to provide users with more detailed information about the safety of the file. Chrome adds a two-tier taxonomy for download warnings that uses different colors, icons, and text. Suspicious files get a gray triangle, while dangerous files get a red stop sign. According to the tech company, these updates would make users heed warnings more quickly.

Users could send the contents of suspicious files to Google to scan them thoroughly in Safe Browsing’s enhanced protection mode, but now the company wants to automate this. This way, a prompt doesn’t have to be sent every time and users are better protected from malicious downloads.