Staying secure online with Chrome

Good Internet security is very important, especially if you do your banking and shopping online. Secure sites encrypt your personal information so that other people who may be watching your Internet activity can’t make sense of it. Using the right security settings can help protect you while you surf and keep your information safe. To access security settings, open the Google Chrome Options window, click the Under the Hood tab, and scroll to the Security section. Here’s what the options do:

• Enable Phishing and Malware Protection: Phishing sites imitate legitimate sites and try to trick you into giving your personal information, such as bank account numbers and PINs. Malware sites try to install viruses or other evil software that tracks your computer habits and keystrokes. Google keeps an updated list of known phishing and malware sites and checks to make sure that you’re not visiting one of them. With this option checked, Chrome blocks access to bad sites. Even though the phishing and malware filter work well, it’s still a good idea to keep your information safe. Don’t share any personal information, such as your Social Security Number or bank account information, on a site linked from your e-mail. When in doubt, visit the company’s main page (type the www.company.com address) and call a customer service representative.

• Manage Certificates: Click this button to access your computer’s certificates. Certificates are used to verify a site’s identity. Browse through the Certificates window that appears and remove any certificates you don’t want to keep.

• Use SSL 2.0: SSL 2.0 is an older security protocol that is less secure. Most sites use SSL 3.0 or newer, so you don’t need this option normally. If you come across a site that only works with SSL 2.0, you can enable it here. However, we recommend you leave it unchecked.

• Check for Server Certificate Revocation: Certificates normally expire at a certain point, but some sites’ certificates can be revoked before the expiration date. This option checks to make sure that your certificate is still valid before you access the site. If it is not valid, Chrome blocks access to that site.

• Mixed Content on Secure (SSL) Pages: Some secure pages show information found on insecure servers, such as images or text. Although it’s usually fine to allow all content to load, you can protect yourself from sending information to insecure sites by only allowing images or blocking insecure content completely.

• Cookie Settings: Cookies are little files that store bits of information from Web sites, such as your login or location so those sites can quickly load your personalized content the next time you visit. Most cookies are safe, but some could potentially track the pages you browse or the links you click. Cookie settings in the Security section include Allow, Restrict, or Block. Cookies received in Incognito mode are deleted automatically when you close the window. Click the Show Cookies button to search for and delete any specific cookies you like.

Source of Information : Google Sites and Chrome FOR DUMMIES