Google is working on a feature for its Chrome browser that will change your compromised passwords automatically. “Automated Password Change” is now in testing within the Canary version of Chrome and could make its way to everyone if testing goes well. If it makes its way to general availability, the feature could help secure accounts while reducing how many passwords you need to come up with and memorize.
In this instance, automatically refers to AI generating the password and changing your password if you’d like. You’ll be prompted about the proposed change when you sign it, so it’s not as if Chrome will change your passwords in the background without asking.
“When Chrome finds one of your passwords in a data breach, it can offer to change your password for you when you sign in,” reads the description of the feature in Chrome’s settings. The option was first reported on by Windows Report.
If you use the feature, Chrome will use AI to generate a password that’s then saved in Google Password Manager.
Unfortunately, data breaches are rather common these days. If you use the same password across multiple websites and accounts, important data could be left vulnerable. Scammers and phishers often try to obtain passwords used for accounts on one website and then try to use a person’s login information on other sites. That type of attack is one reason the best password managers are so popular.
Many websites require passwords to be a certain length and include specific types of characters. Since Google Chrome’s new feature uses AI to generate a password, the resulting passwords should be complex enough for sites. Automated Password Change could be used in conjunction with other tools or used on its own to improve password security.
Since Automated Password Change is an experimental feature, you need to enable it. You can do so by navigating to #improved-password-change-service within chrome://flags/ and changing the dropdown to “enabled.”