San Francisco, Dec 29 (IANS): Tech giant Google is reportedly working on a new security option to block insecure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) downloads in Chrome.

Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), an extension of HTTP, has become very common across the web, reports 9To5Google.

Earlier, it was only used with privacy-sensitive websites like banks that needed to be secured with HTTPS encryption, however, now it has effectively become the default.

Moreover, the browser now marks any older HTTP website as 'Not Secure' in the address bar.

Chrome also blocks secure websites from using insecure web forms or offering insecure downloads. This combination of secure and insecure elements is known as 'mixed content'.

In the beginning, the new option to block insecure HTTP downloads will be locked behind a Chrome flag.

Later on, it is expected to be available as part of the "Always use secure connections" toggle, which was introduced in June, the report said.

Earlier this month, the tech giant rolled out the passkey support in Chrome with the Stable M108 version, for better safety.

Passkeys are a safer replacement for passwords and other phishable authentication factors.