"Chrome Security Update" Fake Message on Mac

If you are browsing and suddenly get redirected to a page claiming to install a "Chrome Security Update" on your system, you might want to close the browser tab immediately. Chances are, you have landed on a malicious page that has nothing to do with updating Chrome.

The full text of the fake Chrome update page goes as follows:

Chrome Security update

This window will close automatically after a few minutes.

Please, do not close the window or shut down the computer.

It is safe to continue browsing during the update.

The truth is, the page you landed on has absolutely nothing do with Google, Chrome or a browser update. The hackers who have set up the malicious redirect and the page you ended up on are actually using your system's resources to mine cryptocurrency. The message telling the victim to leave their browser open is just a little social engineering trick, intended to make the victim keep the malicious page open as long as possible, expecting a browser update that will never come.

If you look at your system resources in your Task Manager while you have that tab open, you might find your CPU and GPU are both at near-max load and your system has become sluggish and unresponsive. This is all due to the malicious page you landed on.

This is just one of many similar fake messages that claim to be for legitimate software. Of course, a random domain name you got redirected to has nothing to do with your Chrome browser and Google will never serve you Chrome updates through such a domain.

It is important to be careful when browsing and to be constantly aware of any possible malicious redirects you may have hit, either accidentally or through a potentially unwanted program that is on your system. Remember that no legitimate software will offer you updates through similar random redirects and you should always use the official websites of the developer or publisher to source all your updates.