In the modern age of fears over internet and browser security, it seems the only thing you can rely on is a little indication on your browser that the site you are connected to is who it says it is and that your connection is secure. But is this always enough? And do you feel that you know exactly how safe your browser and the personal details you may send through it are?
In the latest version of their Chrome Canary browser, the ‘nightly’ release channel for Chrome, Google has addressed this by adding a security panel to the browser. This security panel not just shows whether your data has been sent securely (eg HTTPS) or that the site you are connected to has a valid certificate, but it also allows you to verify the security of the many elements on the page. This means that a particularly security-conscious user will be able to check a whether a suspicious site they are on is secure, but additionally that the site does not hide hidden security flaws introduced by connected elements. It also has functions for developers, who can verify when making a secure site that it is in fact secure and any features relying on external resources do not compromise it.
As always with a nightly build, this feature is still in its early stages and there is still time before its implementation in the standard release channel for Chrome. If you don’t want to wait to check the security of sites you may visit, Chrome Canary can run alongside another install of Chrome, so it could be worth a download.
“…but additionally that the site does not hide hidden security flaws…”
How do you hide something that’s already hidden?