Source URL: https://security.googleblog.com/2025/07/advancing-protection-in-chrome-on.html
Source: Google Online Security Blog
Title: Advancing Protection in Chrome on Android
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AI Summary and Description: Yes
Summary: The text describes the integration of Google’s Advanced Protection Program into Android and Chrome, focusing on new security features aimed at safeguarding at-risk users, such as journalists and public figures. It highlights three main enhancements: Always Use Secure Connections, Full Site Isolation, and reduced attack surface through JavaScript optimizations. The insights provided are crucial for security professionals looking to enhance mobile and browser security for users with varied risk profiles.
Detailed Description:
The article outlines Google’s commitment to bolstering security for at-risk users through its Advanced Protection Program, now including innovative features for Android devices and the Chrome browser. Below are the major points:
– **Advanced Protection for Android**:
– Aims to enhance the security of high-risk users (journalists, elected officials, etc.) by providing stronger controls at the device level.
– Serves as a control point consolidating important security settings across various applications, including Chrome.
– **Key Features Integrated with Chrome**:
1. **Always Use Secure Connections**:
– Forces HTTPS connections to enhance security by preventing attackers from intercepting data over insecure networks.
– This feature has been employed particularly in environments where plaintext HTTP is a vulnerability, as seen during the Egyptian election.
– It can be enabled by any user, along with enterprise controls available to manage its deployment across fleets.
2. **Full Site Isolation**:
– Each website runs in its own rendering process, which mitigates risks from cross-site data leakage. This feature is essential for users on Android devices with adequate RAM (4GB+).
– Improves overall security by requiring additional vulnerabilities for an attacker to exploit data from another site.
3. **Reduction of JavaScript Attack Surface**:
– Disabling optimizing JavaScript compilers reduces potential exploits, addressing around 50% of known security bugs.
– Users can control this feature on a per-site basis, ensuring flexibility in managing performance versus security.
– **Enterprise Management**:
– Organizations can control these security settings through policies, allowing businesses to tailor security configurations according to their operational needs.
– **Broader Security Context**:
– Acknowledges the varying risk profiles of Chrome’s billions of users and emphasizes a default secure configuration that may not suit all users, hence the need for Advanced Protection for high-risk cases.
– Recommend users to join the Advanced Protection Program, use phishing-resistant MFA, and keep devices updated, highlighting a proactive stance on security.
This announcement not only enhances awareness of security features but also encourages security professionals to actively implement these measures to protect their users, especially those in higher-risk roles.