In 2017, Google announced the Advanced Protection Program (APP) for securing the accounts of high-risk individuals such as journalists, business executives, activists, and people involved in electoral processes.
While the service is free to use, subscribers will need to pay a fee to obtain a security key.
In August 2019, Google stated that the APP through Chrome will automatically scan for dangerous downloads, trigger notifications if necessary and block the download files containing malware.
Today the company announced further improvements to this feature.
In one suspension in its blog Google states that APP clients are already protected by electronic fishing (Phishing) and that Chrome warns when downloading dangerous files. The company seems to be taking it a step further by allowing APP users to send the dangerous files directly to Google for scanning for potential threats.
Η εταιρεία θα χρησιμοποιεί το cloud-hosting Safe Browsing malware detection suite to analyze any files uploaded by users to its service.
Google says:
When a user downloads a file, Safe Browsing will perform a quick scan using metadata, like the hashes of the file, to evaluate if it looks suspicious. Any downloads deemed unsafe by Safe Browsing will show the user a warning and the option to send the file to be scanned. If the user chooses to send the file, Chrome will upload it to Google Safe Browsing, which will scan it using real-time static and dynamic analysis techniques. After a short wait, if Safe Browsing determines that the file is unsafe, Chrome will warn the user. As always, users can bypass the warning and open the file without scanning if they are sure the file is safe. Safe Browsing deletes files you upload shortly after scanning.
You can find more details about the program here.
