Windows Defender Extension Enhances Chrome's Security

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Chrome provides decent security measures, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from releasing an extension, dubbed Windows Defender Browser Protection, that augments those tools.

You're probably asking yourself, "why the heck would I want Windows Defender in Chrome?" According to a study, the Windows Defender technology — which is used by Microsoft Edge — is better at protecting users against phishing attacks than basic ol' Chrome.

How much better? In a page promoting the extension, Microsoft highlights that Edge (using Windows Defender) blocks 99 percent of phishing attacks, while Chrome only identifies 87 percent of them. This stat comes from the NSS Labs 2017 Web Browser Security Comparative Reports.

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Available for download here, Windows Defender Browser Protection aims to block you from accessing pages it identifies as unsafe. That ranges from pages with phishing attacks to ones that try to install dangerous or malicious programs onto your system.

Just like Chrome, Microsoft's extension presents a big red window to tell you that you've attempted to open a dangerous page, and offers a big "Back to safety" button that works just as well as clicking the Back button.

Windows Defender is having a good year, having been rated just as good as competitors such as Kaspersky Lab Internet Security at protecting Windows 7 users.

There doesn't appear to be any reason not to use the extension, as Ars Technica reports that Windows Defender doesn't appear to disable Chrome's security features. Think of it as extra protection from the dangers lurking online.

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Henry T. Casey