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Google will remove secure website indicators in Chrome 117:
Google announced today that the lock icon, long thought to be a sign of website security and trustworthiness, will soon be changed with a new icon that doesn't imply that a site is secure or should be trusted.
While first introduced to show that a website was using HTTPS encryption to encrypt connections, the lock symbol is no longer needed given that more than 99% of all web pages are now loaded 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 the lock icon to trick the targets into thinking they're safe from attacks.
"This misunderstanding is not harmless — nearly all phishing sites use HTTPS, and therefore also display the lock icon," Google said.
[...] The lock icon will be changed in Chrome 117 with a "variant of the tune icon," a user interface element commonly linked to app settings and designed to show that it's a clickable item.
[...] This move was first announced almost two years ago, in August 2021, when the company revealed that secure website indicators are no longer needed and would be removed from Google Chrome's address bar since over 90% of connections are made over HTTPS.
"When HTTPS was rare, the lock icon drew attention to the additional protections provided by HTTPS. Today, this is no longer true, and HTTPS is the norm, not the exception, and we've been evolving Chrome accordingly," Google said.
[...] It's worth noting that Google Chrome will continue to alert users of insecure plaintext HTTP connections on all platforms.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Saturday May 06, @06:22AM (4 children)
Well there's your problem right there.
There are other browsers that you can secure more transparently.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, @09:02AM (2 children)
Sure there are other browsers, but as a practical matter will the commercial websites that I need to use to run my tiny company work with those browsers?
Here's one example, one customer wants invoices submitted through a SAP/Ariba system. It stopped working with Firefox a couple of years ago and I grudgingly switched to Chrome for awhile. Now, it works with Firefox again (and I've switched back)...go figure.
Another, computer audio doesn't work (for me) with Zoom or WebEx opened in a browser tab--I have to phone in to conferences. Chrome will give me audio in a browser tab.
(Score: 4, Informative) by hendrikboom on Saturday May 06, @01:04PM (1 child)
Yup.
I've noticed something similar.
Quoting from my public bookmarks page [pooq.com]:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, @06:16PM
> So I use both together.
Clever! I'll try that next time. The other day with Zoom, Chrome video froze after a few minutes, but the audio kept working. Never occurred to me to try with Firefox, I think that will get the video.
Thanks!!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, @11:11AM
I dunno, Firefox also did some URL hiding: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=691147 [mozilla.org]
So they too might follow Chrome down the road of making things harder for the people who care while not doing a thing for stupid and the careless.