Microsoft is bringing its own antivirus software to Google’s Chrome web browser.
The tech giant is releasing its Windows Defender program as a Chrome extension, which scans for malware and blocks URLs it finds to be malicious.
The extension is designed to also stop phishing emails from being successful by blocking links that appear suspicious.
Microsoft’s move to roll out Defender on Chrome is an interesting one as Google already offers its own antivirus protections in Chrome, meaning the need to actually install the extension isn’t especially high.
However, Microsoft does claim that its browser protection software is more effective than some of its rivals, saying it offers 99% protection against phishing attacks, compared to 87% and 70% respectively for current offerings in Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
Defender works by showing users a red warning screen when they attempt to navigate to a website that has been flagged as malicious.
The extension is now live in the Chrome Web Store.
