Google announced that it has identified a bug in Chrome that opens up a potential computer hacking risk. The company indicated that the flaw affects its more than 3 billion users worldwide.

They highlighted that the error in the Chrome code is currently being exploited by hackers to compromise computers and fraudulently obtain information. Likewise, they also pointed out that they managed to identify six other high-level threats that affect all operating systems.

Google indicated that due to security measures, it will not provide more information about the faults found until a good part of its users manage to update their browser and are protected. In this way, they hope to prevent a greater number of people from being affected by security breaches.

One fact that the company did share is that it is a “high-level zero-day vulnerability”, which are security flaws in programs or equipment that are actively used by computer criminals until they are identified and resolved.

What to do to avoid being hacked?

As part of Google’s response to these security problems, version 98.0.4758.102 of Chrome was released, which solves the flaws found by the company’s developers.

However, as explained on the company’s official website, its distribution among all users could take days, and even weeks. This has the consequence that users will not be able to be protected immediately and will continue to be exposed to possible attacks.

Those users who wish to know if they already have the security patch can do so by entering their browser and accessing the configuration menu. On this screen, they must click on the last option identified as “Chrome information”, which is located in the lower-left corner of the screen.

This will open a new window that will show the version of the browser that is installed on the computer. If this is equal to or greater than 98.0.4758.102, this means that the computer is protected.

Otherwise, Google Chrome itself may start searching for updates, which may take a few seconds. Once this is done, the program will proceed to download and install the update automatically. It should be noted that this entire process will take time depending on the speed of the user’s Internet connection.