Just to be safe I'd like to force the latest safe browsing update on Safari.
How do I do that?
Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 4 gigs ram
Iit's part of Safari. Just make sure you're running the latest version of Safari by checking for available updates.
Thank you but I am looking for information on how to force the update. For instance when I sync my iPhone and iPad I notice at that time the safe browsing data is updated. I don't see a log for that or get a notice of the process on my desktop version of Safari. And, for the record, I'm obsessive about keeping up to date.
So let me revise my question: Is there a way to verify that the updates are happening or manually force the safe browsing update?
Sorry, but I don't understand what you're concerned about or what you want to achieve.
* If Software Update doesn't show an update is available, then there is nothing to update.
* Safe Browsing (in Safari it's called Private Browsing) needs to be enabled each session thru the Safari menu. It's eaither On or Off. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/5.0/en/9311.html
* Safari and Private Browsing have nothing to do with syncing of your iDevices. That's done thru iTunes or iCloud.
Safe browsing is a database of sites that are known security risks. This is separate from private browsing. That database (I believe it's furnished by Google) is supposed to be automatically updated via a hidden (apparently) process on a regular basis. When it is working Safari will block access to that site with a warning asking you if you want to continue.
I am looking for a way to do the following:
1. Determine if my safe browsing database is up to date
2. Learn how to manually toggle the update process
3. Understand what the update cycle is from Apple so I can check in the future to make sure the process is working.
It is NOT private browsing, that is a separate function. Even in private browsing mode it is theoretically possible to compromise your system.
This is from description of Safari 4.0:
"When Safari launches, it downloads an abbreviated list of these sites’ hashes. When you navigate to a web site, Safari checks the blacklist."
http://images.apple.com/support/security/guides/docs/SnowLeopard_Security_Config _v10.6.pdf
The database is synced to iOS devices via iTunes sync.
Since you are interested in the inner workings of Safari, you might be more successful if you post this question in the Developer forums.
The safebrowsing.db file contains the blacklists from Google’s Safe Browsing Initiative - the file was probably created when you first launched Safari, and if you have the browser open, the file is modified approximately every 30 minutes.
In other words it is part of Safari's anti-phishing security feature. As it is a cache file it would presumably be re-created next time you open Safari, but would have to rebuild its cache of potentially bad sites.
It will be recreated next time you open Safari, and will then start again collecting details of dodgy websites.
How the Anti-Phishing feature of Safari 3.2 onwards works:
http://www.macworld.com/article/137094/2008/11/safari_safe_browsing.html
Thanks, that answers my questions and points me in the right direction. A quick check of the .db file shows it was created 2/22/12 which was probably the last time I updated Safari and was modified today. That tells me all is well with this feature...
Again, thank you. I really appreciate your help.
how do I force a safari safe browsing security update?
