So how do you get rid of this potential threat? This information could be used against you without even having access to your system, just walking by while you were opening a new tab. They could also see that this person spends a LOT of time on Reddit, Buzzfeed and Amazon, using a spear phishing attack against this person would be easy if an attacker masked their identity as the Admin at Buzzfeed or some reseller at Amazon. The above screenshot shows a scenario where you could easily tell that this person banks with Bank of America and based on that information alone, an attacker or even just someone nosey could create a profile on you. They can do this just by opening a new tab and thereby cause all kinds of havoc.

If you were in an office environment and left your desk quickly to use the restroom, a stranger or co-worker could hop onto your system and open up one of the commonly visited sites that you might still be logged into.

Once they open the browser, they are instantly given access to not only your personal surfing habits, but also how you interact with social media, email and where you bank. Maybe, they cracked your systems login password or you maybe you didn't have one at all. Users visit certain sites more frequently and therefore it should be easy for them to get there quickly, Chrome makes this possible.Ĭonsider, if you will, someone who you don't know, getting on your system or even looking over your shoulder.

Now, to the casual observer I am sure there is nothing wrong here. So, if you use Chrome, you might have noticed that anytime you open up a window or a new tab, you get something like this:Ī nice search bar, which I have no problem with, and then a listing of your most visited sites. However, their attempts at making it 'easier' for users to find where they want to go, makes me think that their security purview isn't focused enough on the internal threats. Don't get me wrong, I love Chrome, I think it's a fantastic browser and has a great track record of protecting users from exploits and malicious sites.

Buzzfeed google chrome security update