Google LLC today celebrated a major milestone, announcing that its Enhanced Protection mode in Chrome now safeguards more than 1 billion users against phishing and online scams.

Launched in 2020, Chrome’s Enhanced Protection mode uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect and block online threats in real-time. Differing from Google’s Safe Browsing mode, which relies on a database of known malicious sites to protect users, Enhanced Protection proactively analyzes URLs, phishing attempts and social engineering tactics to identify emerging risks.

Google claims the feature doubles the security effectiveness for users by helping to prevent scams before they reach their targets. The service also scans downloads to flag potentially harmful files and detect malware hidden in encrypted archives.

“Safe Browsing’s Enhanced Protection models can identify URLs designed to look similar to trusted domains,” said Benjamin Ackerman, product manager at Google Chrome and Jonathan Li, product manager for Safe Browsing. “Additionally, suspicious pages are compared to known attack patterns to identify potential risks.”

Enhanced Protection also offers user privacy, with the service anonymizing user data whenever possible and retaining threat-related information only for as long as necessary to improve its detection models. Additionally, When a new threat is identified, Chrome’s security infrastructure updates in real-time, alerting other users before they encounter the same risks, allowing users to not only secure their own browsing experience but also contribute to a safer internet for everyone.

“With Enhanced Protection enabled, Safe Browsing runs more than 300,000 deep scans of suspicious files against advanced scanners every month, helping to find new forms of malware that haven’t been seen before,” Ackerman and Li added. “Enhanced Protection can even help protect you from new threats hidden in encrypted archives.”

Google attributes the adoption of Enhanced Protection to growing awareness of online threats and increasing user demand for stronger security tools. Having surpassed the billion-user mark, Google plans to integrate additional security layers and privacy-preserving technologies to further improve online safety in the near future.

Image: SiliconANGLE/Ideogram