Search engine giant Google recently rolled out Password Alert, a Chrome extension that aims to protect against phishing attempts. If you land on a non-Google login page and you enter your password, the extension will bring up an alert.

Password Alert works with Google accounts and with Google Apps for Work accounts, including Google Apps and Drive for Work.

Password Alert for Chrome – Security alerts

If you visit a website that isn’t a Google sign-in page (that’s anywhere other than accounts.google.com) and you type in your Google password, the extension will display an alert. Here’s how the alert looks like.



As you can see, it features an option to reset your password. If you suspect your account has been compromised, it’s best to reset your password.

Password Alert for Chrome – Discourages password recycling

It is not a good idea to use the same password for multiple online accounts. Or to put it in other words, it is not a good idea to recycle passwords. Password Alert discourages Chrome users from doing that.

The extension remembers your Google password in a one-way encrypted format known as a cryptographic hash. Or to put it in layman's terms, it remembers a scrambled version of your Google account password. If you use said password to log into other online accounts, Password Alert will bring up the same alert mentioned above.

Password Alert for Chrome – Phishing sites detection

The bad guys set up phishing sites to try and trick you into giving them your password. You don’t want to do that and Google certainly does not want you to do that. That’s why the Password Alert extension will try to detect fake Google sign-in pages. If it detects such a webpage, it notifies you before you type in your password.

Password Alert for Chrome – Free and open source

Google’s Password Alert extension for Chrome is free and open source software. It is available for download on the Chrome Web Store.