It hasn’t been a good year for Google. Last week, a glitch in Google Chrome caused over 15 million passwords to disappear, prompting the global tech giant to issue a public apology.
Due to a bug in Chrome’s password manager, users were unable to use saved passwords between July 24 and 25, and new passwords could not be saved either. Google acknowledged the error and confirmed that it was isolated to the M127 version of the Chrome browser on Windows, affecting about a quarter of all Chrome users, including the 15 million who actively use the password manager.
The Password Glitch Is Now Fixed: Initially, Google provided a temporary workaround that required users to enter an additional command when launching Chrome. However, the issue has since been fully resolved, and users can now access their passwords without any problems.
Although Chrome’s password manager is generally considered secure, this incident raises concerns about relying on a single password manager. For added security, it’s advisable to have a backup password manager.
Not the Only Problem at Google: Forbes reports that Chrome’s password manager was not the only failure at Google. There were also issues with email verification when creating new Google Workspace accounts, potentially allowing attackers unauthorized access due to the verification bypass.