Comment by vaduz
5 years ago
> Doesn't Chrome upload everything downloaded to VirusTotal (a Google product)?
It doesn't, unless you opt for SafeSearch "Enhanced Protection" or enable "Help improve security on the web for everyone" in "Standard Protection". Both are off by default, IIRC. Without it, it periodically downloads what amounts to bloom filter of "potentially unsafe" URLs/domains.
On the other hand, GMail and GDrive do run the checks via VirusTotal, as far as we know - which means that OP case may have been caused by having some of the recipients having their incoming mail automatically scanned. It's similar for Microsoft version (FOPE users provide input for Defender Smart Screen), at least last time I checked.
What happens if it is a hit against the bloom filter / checksum? Would it transmit the URL so that it can be blocklisted?
https://developers.google.com/safe-browsing/v4/update-api#ch...
TL;DR is you download a chunk of SHA-256 hashes and check if the hash for your URL is there. There is of course the chance of collision but that is minuscule.
Oh I know that's how that works, I meant, does Google transmit back the URLs once it does get a hit, to protect others from downloading that file?
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