Google has issued an apology after passwords disappeared for millions of Windows users. The company reported a significant number of users were unable to find or save passwords in the password manager for Google Chrome for 17 hours and 51 minutes.
For nearly 18 hours, Chrome users around the world found themselves without the aid of Google’s password manager on July 24 and into July 25, 2024. Google claimed the outage was due to “a change in product behavior without proper feature guard,” bringing to mind for some the CrowdStrike drama earlier this month. While the problem only affected the M127 version of Chrome Browser on the Windows platform, it likely applied to many millions of users.
In a post on Google Workspace, the tech titan remarked, “We apologize for the inconvenience this service disruption/outage may have caused.” It added, “Please note, this information is based on our best knowledge at the time of posting and is subject to change as our investigation continues.”
In terms of impacted customers, Google remarked approximately 2% of users out of the 25% of the entire user base where the configuration change was rolled out experienced the issue. According to those calculations, it is thought around 15 million users saw their passwords vanish into thin air for a period of time.
At the time of Google’s posting, the company reported an interim workaround had been implemented. Once a full fix had been implemented, users were advised to restart their Chrome browser to ensure the fix took effect. Any users who were still experiencing the issue are being asked to reach out to Google Workspace Support via the help article.
Google’s password manager debacle is just one reason no one should rely solely on a single password manager application. People should consider using additional password manager tools, such as BitWarden, 1Password, and Dashlane. Another option is keeping a secure folder of passwords for multiple accounts on an encrypted device.