The add-on dubbed "Windows Defender Browser Protection" (WDBP) can now be downloaded to Chrome on Windows or macOS computers from the Chrome Store, to bolster Chrome's anti-phishing mechanism.
While the WDBP was originally built in on Microsoft's own browser Edge, the add-on runs on the company's SmartScreen technology that guards users from malicious websites, or phishing attempts that try to install malware and from malicious links in email messages.
This is possible through a constantly-changing list which Microsoft keeps of likely bad destinations on its servers, generated in part from telemetry sent by the SmartScreen technology.
Albeit, Microsoft hasn't fully documented the extension's operation beyond the general information on its site and the description on Chrome Web Store, which reads thus "if you click a malicious link in an email or navigate to a site designed to trick you into disclosing financial, personal or other sensitive information, or a website that hosts malware, Windows Defender Browser Protection will check it against a constantly updated list of malicious URLs known to Microsoft."
And the company had referenced the 2017 research from NSS Labs, which scored Edge as the best browser that's capable to block phishing and socially-engineered malware attacks, recording 99% success in all attempts while Google Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox were pegged to 87% and 70%, respectively.
The move by Microsoft is seen by analysts as the devil's alternative: As Microsoft is now saddled into Protecting the majority of Windows users, not only those running Edge (or the obsolete, legacy Internet Explorer).
Meanwhile, Edge browser in its third-year anniversary has only been unable to attract a handful of audience, which Net Applications latest data analytics put at just 4% market share, and 13% share on Windows 10 machines, while Chrome still leads the pack at 61% of the entire web browser usage.
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