Google Chrome aims to block non-secure HTTP downloads!

Google Chrome is gearing up to provide a toggle to restrict non-secure HTTP downloads. This is to provide additional protection to users.

Google Chrome to block HTTP downloads

No more bad HTTP downloads for Chrome users?

As seen in a recent code change, Google Chrome will be adding a setting to restrict and outright block suspicious HTTP downloads. Over the past few years, Google has been adding more security capabilities to Chrome in an effort to promote the use of HTTPS connections. 

In contrast to the past, when it was only necessary for privacy-sensitive websites, such as banks, HTTPS encryption is now the standard rather than the exception given how many websites handle our personal information.

The new security option is a toggle that turns on the option to "Always use secure connections". In a perfect world, Google Chrome will always try to upgrade the websites you visit HTTPS versions with this option turned on.

Most significantly, any older HTTP site is now flagged in the URL bar as "Not Secure." Additionally, Chrome forbids the use of non-secure downloads or web forms on secure websites. The phrase for this combination of secure and insecure parts is "mixed content."

Google wants to better protect Chrome users from potentially dangerous HTTP downloads after a recent code modification. The fact that this prevents downloads from any connection, including those that are connected to unsafe websites, goes beyond the safeguards already in place for downloading mixed content.

The full availability is not yet confirmed. We can expect it to be available in 2023. We will update you as soon as we get more information.

What do you guys think?

Source: 9to5Google