Tech giant Google is facing heat from users after a critical glitch in Google Chrome that has led to the disappearance of passwords for around 15 million Windows users. The incident happened on July 24 and 25, impacting a wide array of sectors including medical institutions, airlines, and banks.
According to a report from Forbes, the disruption stemmed from a "change in product behavior" within Google Chrome, specifically affecting the Google Password Manager, a tool used by more than three million users to store and autofill passwords.
The issue was traced back to the M127 version of the Chrome browser on Windows, which caused previously saved passwords to become inaccessible and prevented new passwords from being saved, the report added.
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Users Unable To Use Stored Passwords
For almost 18 hours, affected users weren’t able to use their store passwords, creating widespread inconvenience. Google recommended a temporary workaround involving the use of a command-line flag to bypass the issue. Eventually, the problem was fixed after the company issued a fix, advising users to simply restart their browsers to restore functionality, the report stated.
"We apologize for the inconvenience this service disruption or outage may have caused," the company stated in an official apology to those impacted users.
Reportedly, the incident has raised some eyebrows about the concerns about the reliability of online password managers. Many users depend on these tools for a wide range of activities, from work and healthcare to education and entertainment. This recent glitch underscores the potential risks associated with depending solely on digital password storage solutions. Experts suggest that users should make a backup plan and be cautious with sensitive information stored online.
As the world continues to recover from the recent CrowdStrike update issue, which paralyzed numerous businesses globally, this latest incident further highlights the vulnerabilities in our digital day-to-day lives.
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Microsoft Could Bring Surprising Changes To Curb Outages
The recent IT outage wasn’t just bad for CrowdStrike, but also a wake-up call for Microsoft. To avoid such instances in the future, Microsoft could take some serious steps, as it is evaluating blocking third-party security software from accessing the Windows Kernel, according to a blog post by John Cable, VP of program management for Windows servicing and delivery.
If this change were to be put in place, the restriction would imitate Apple’s 2020 move, which limited third-party software from accessing its core OS. The change was brought to macOS Big Sur, making sure that every system partition that contains the core OS is cryptographically verified, down to every last file. The goal is to curb third-party entities that could melt down the whole system.