Google Assistant can now auto-update breached passwords

SAN FRANCISCO: Tech giant Google's virtual assistant software application Assistant can now warn users when they need to change their password, and can even help them change it.

According to Android Police, last year, Google had announced that it would be introducing a feature in Chrome for Android that would allow Assistant to help users change stolen passwords in a few taps.

The company had said the new experience would roll out gradually, but it is only about now that more than a handful of users have started to get it on their devices.

Chrome can also warn users if their stored passwords are unsafe or reused from a data breach, the report said.

In 2021, Google announced that it would roll out the ability to automatically handle changing compromised passwords for users, but most people still had to do the actual password-changing part manually.

With this update, users will be prompted as soon as they log into a site with a password that has been compromised. The dialogue box will have a big Assistant-branded "Change automatically" button, as shared by Android Police's Max Weinbach.

Once tapped, a confirmation sheet will pop up which users will need to agree to. Users will then be taken directly to the affected website to set up a new password for the account. Here, users can type in their own key or let the built-in password manager suggest one.

Assistant can handle the entire process for users from start to finish, but they do have the option to take over at any stage, the report said.