March 15, 2024 at 04:45AM
Google has introduced an enhanced version of Safe Browsing, offering real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection to prevent users from visiting potentially harmful sites. By shifting to server-side checks, Google aims to improve the detection of phishing attempts and protect user privacy. The new approach involves obfuscating URLs and using encrypted hash prefixes.
Based on the meeting notes, it seems that Google has announced an enhanced version of Safe Browsing to provide real-time, privacy-preserving URL protection. This version aims to safeguard users from visiting potentially malicious sites by using server-side checks without sharing users’ browsing history with the company. The new architecture involves checking URLs against global and local caches containing known safe URLs and conducting real-time checks by obfuscating the URL into 32-byte full hashes. The company has also implemented a privacy server, operated by Fastly, to prevent the Safe Browsing server from accessing users’ IP addresses, thereby ensuring privacy. This update is expected to block 25% more phishing attempts compared to the previous method of checking sites. If you need any further details or specific takeaways from the meeting notes, feel free to ask.