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Chrome 56: Not Just Another Update!
Updating happens all the time in our switched-on electronic world. Apps are constantly updating themselves (or hassling you with notifications until you accept the update just to get rid of them!) , our televisions go into standby mode while they download the latest new channels; even our devices themselves require periodic updates (usually at the most inopportune moments).
As we now enjoy extremely rapid access to information online, such updates can seem little more than a waste of time and battery power; a mere irritant and minor delay. This is especially true when the update seems to have no noticeable change on whatever is updated; with some app the update seems totally unnecessary (why does a calculator app need an update?!).
Sometimes a whole new version of an app is launched and these often ARE important directly affecting the way you use the internet. A recent example is the launch of Chrome 56 which, with a host of new bells and whistles designed to make life easier, safer and more efficient online, contains a key change in the ever-raging battle against internet fraud.
Some websites collect passwords, bank details and other such sensitive information yet cut corners by not using HTTPS, potentially opening a gateway to online crime. Chrome 56 will flag and highlight HTTP pages that do this as ‘Not Secure’; previous versions of Chrome only used the green ‘Secure’ label to indicate HTTPS compliance and a neutral icon for those that didn’t.
HTTPS allows for more secure connections, considered to be essential in the fight against vulnerability to content injection, which can lead to eavesdropping, data modification and infamous man-in-the-middle attacks on sensitive data. Chrome 56 follows hot on the heels of Firefox 51’s release just a week before; Mozilla have also opted to place browser markers on websites without HTTPS, forming part of a long-term plan to get the whole web using it.
Improvements to page reloading performance have also been included in the new version of Chrome, plus exciting new developer features. You can update right now from within the browser itself or download it directly from Google.