It’s no secret that Google Chrome has billions of active users, and it continues to grow in popularity across the world. However, despite its iron grip on the web browser market, its users have been put on a high alert due to a recent announcement by the company. Just a few days ago, Google issued its second urgent upgrade warning to users, which would be the second in just a week. 

An announcement like this points to the possibility of a severe security problem in its Chrome web browser, which would leave users vulnerable if they don’t upgrade. Google revealed in an official blog post that they had found a new zero-day exploit in Chrome, thanks to an anonymous tip-off. In this case, a zero-day exploit is a vulnerability that has already been discovered by hackers and is actively being exploited. While security flaws are mostly found and fixed through an update before it gets out of hand, the zero-day vulnerability is more dangerous since it’s not a big secret anymore.

What we do know about this vulnerability right now is that it is called CVE-2021-30554 and found on a JavaScript API for rendering known as WebGL. It’s no surprise that we know so little about this threat since it is standard practice for Google to keep such zero-day information very hush. They claim that it’s done intentionally to give Chrome users enough time to upgrade to the latest version that has this fix. Here’s how you can stay safe from this threat as a chrome user:

• Go to Settings
• Select Help
• Click on About Google Chrome
• If your browser version is 91.0.4472.114 or above, you are safe from this threat. This applies to Linux, Windows, and macOS.
• If your browser version doesn’t fall in this category, manually check for updates and then restart your browser

According to Google, they have discovered three other high-level threats, all fixed in this Chrome version. Seven zero-day vulnerability on Chrome in just a year is a cause for concern and points to the possibility of a bigger underlying problem.

The good news is that Google has been doing a great job of releasing fixes as soon as these are brought to their notices. Thanks to their effectiveness and quick action, users are quickly aware of the problem and can update their browsers immediately. Of course, this level of effectiveness is higher when Chrome users install updates very fast.

Here are some ways you can keep your sensitive information safe as a chrome user:

• Stay extra vigilant at all times, especially now that hackers are having a field day exploiting vulnerabilities.
• Install updates immediately there’s an announcement that one is available
• Stay away from malicious websites.

There is a need to point out that a new group of hackers known as PuzzleMaker has been hard at work on zero-day bugs that will help them install malware on Windows systems. This is a considerable threat that even Microsoft recognizes as they released urgent security warning for their users a few days ago. It’s therefore essential for Chrome users to stay alert and up to date on operating system security as it looks like it’s Chrome-hacker season.