Google will retire and kill forever one of its most representative symbols: the famous padlock that appears before HTTPS encryption in URLs. Chrom.
While it was first introduced to show that a website uses HTTPS encryption to encrypt communications, the padlock symbol is no longer necessary because now more than 99% of all web pages load in Google Chrome over HTTPS.
These also include websites used as landing pages in phishing attacks or other malicious purposes, designed to take advantage of a padlock code to trick targets into thinking they are safe from attack.
“This misunderstanding is not harmful: almost all phishing sites use HTTPS and therefore also display the padlock symbol,” Google said.
“The misunderstanding is so pervasive that many organisations, including FBI, post explicit guidelines that the padlock icon is not an indicator of website security. “
The lock icon in Chrome 117 will be changed using the “melody icon variant”, a widget commonly associated with the app’s settings and designed to show that it is a clickable element.
“When HTTPS was rare, the padlock symbol drew attention to the extra protections HTTPS provides. Today, that is no longer true, and HTTPS is the norm rather than the exception, and we’ve developed Chrome accordingly.” He said Google.
“The new icon is scheduled to launch in Chrome 117, which will be released in early September 2023, as part of an overall design update for desktop platforms.”
Those who want to try replacing the lock icon can enable it in Chrome Canary by following the instructions below.
- Enters chrome://flags in the address bar and press Enters.
- research ‘Chromium update 2023“
- when the sign appearsChrome 2023 updateclickPredefined“specify”maybe«.
- Launch the browser again when prompted to get the updated Chrome desktop user interface.
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