The Chrome browser which we are all using is not as secure as it seems to be. It has got a vulnerability which is yet to be fixed. This vulnerability was first outlined by the good people at Yoast way back in 2013 itself.
Basically, by using this exploit a hacker can hide form input fields on a web page, which Chrome will then fill in with your personal information if you opt to use its autocomplete feature.
Have a look at how this exploit actually works –
I, therefore, recommend everyone to turn off Chrome’s autofill feature immediately to be on the safer side. The sooner you do it, better will it be.
How to turn off autocomplete in Chrome
Step 1 – Paste chrome://settings/autofill into Chrome’s address bar and hit enter.
Step 2 – Now, press escape or use the ‘x’ button at the top right corner to exit the ‘Autofill settings‘ modal box.
Step 3 – Uncheck the Enable Autofill to fill out web forms in a single click checkbox.
That’s it. You have now successfully disabled Chrome’s autocompleting feature. I can now assure you that hackers won’t be able to steal your personal data using this well-known exploit.
Pro Tip: Do not ever submit personal or sensitive data to websites you don’t trust.
There is also an extension for Chrome to check what was auto-filled by the browser. You can get it from GitHub for free. You might also want to read my list of useful extensions for Chrome browsers.
Are you kidding me?! I do this all the time! 😱
No, I’m serious. You should stop using autofill right away.
I think I will. Thanks for your informative posts!
You pointed out a serious issue. We all have been using it. Good you highlighted such a big point. Now the users need to take appropriate measures and protect themselves.
Thank you, Anto, for this alarming post.
Though it is not a very serious issue, it is still worth debating about. Let’s hope the Chrome devs fix this issue as soon as possible in the coming updates.