Change Chrome security settings and make browsing the web safer. Here are the features that keep your browsing safer and more secure from internet threats. It takes seconds to change them.
If you want to know how to make Chrome more secure, you have to explore the browser’s settings. Chrome automatically updates and new features can be added or improved without you realizing that there has been a change.
If you have not opened Chrome settings for some time, I recommend that you take a fresh look because you might be missing out on important security changes and improvements that will keep you safer online. Let’s take a look.
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Chrome privacy and security settings
Have you run Safety check before? Did you even know it had one? This new feature may have been slipped in during an update without you knowing and it is useful to run occasionally.
- Click the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window and select Settings on the menu.
- Select the Privacy and security section on the left.
- Click the Check now button.
There are other items in the Privacy and security section of Chrome settings, but I will come back to those later. Let’s see what the safety check comes up with.
Chrome safety check results
This security checkup feature is well worth running on a regular basis. Use it at least once a month, maybe once a week if you are really concerned about security.
Updates: The safety check looks at several things and one is whether Chrome is up to date. Updates are important because they may include fixes for security flaws. The browser will automatically update eventually, but not always as soon as an update is available. It may be several days or even a week before it auto-updates. If an update is available, a button appears here.
Password manager: If any passwords have been stored in your Google account, they are checked against known security breaches. You can see how many passwords are compromised and if any of your passwords are considered to be weak. Click the Review button to see more details about the password problems and which ones you need to change.
Safe browsing: The safe browsing status is displayed and you can either click here or click Security in Privacy and security (see the first screenshot).
Extensions: Click this to open a new tab showing extensions. It is best to keep the number of extensions to a minimum to reduce the risk of a bad one being used.
Chrome safe browsing setting
There are three levels of protection in the Chrome Safe Browsing section: Enhanced, standard and no protection. Avoid the third option because it provides no protection against security threats on the internet.
The difference between enhanced and standard protection is the amount of information sent to Google. Enhanced is the safest and most secure Chrome setting, but more information is sent to Google than standard.
Standard protection sends less information to Google and it partly relies on a list of unsafe sites stored in Chrome. Enhanced protection sends browsing data to Google so that it can be checked more thoroughly. This enables it to provide better security and, so it says, even predict and warn you about dangerous events before they happen.
I use enhanced protection, but you have to be comfortable with giving up a little privacy. The way I look at it is that I’m using Chrome, Gmail, Drive, and other Google services, so it already knows everything anyway, so why not enable enhanced protection too? However, there will be some people that absolutely do not want this. It is your choice.
An interesting thing is that when you enable enhanced protection, it is set in your Google account. Go to myaccount.google.com > Security, scroll down and near the bottom is Enhanced Safe Browsing for your Account. When this is on, enhanced browsing is applied everywhere and on every device.
Advanced security options
Go to Chrome Settings > Privacy and security, scroll down to Advanced and turn on the switch next to Always use secure connections. This automatically uses https connections and warns you if websites do not support it.
Below this is Use secure DNS. Select With, click the menu button and select one of the providers: Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), CleanBrowsing (Family Filter), Google (Public DNS) or OpenDNS. All of these use secure DNS (the service that turns URLs into IP addresses). Your ISP’s DNS, which is used when no other is specified, may not be secure.
The Custom option on the menu enables you to enter your own DNS servers and popular ones are Cloudflare that blocks malware 1.1.1.2 and 1.0.0.2, Cloudflare that blocks malware and adult content 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3. OpenDNS Family Shield 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123. Usually DNS servers come in pairs, a main one and a backup, but it is sufficient to use just the first one.
All these DNS options help to make Chrome more secure.
