Google announced plans to run its own certificate root program/storage for Chrome. This move is a major shift in the company's web browser program architecture.
A "root program" or "root store" is a list of root certificates used by operating systems and applications to verify their identity during the installation of software routines. Browsers such as Chrome use root storage to check the validity of the HTTPS connection. They do this by looking at the TLS certificate of the website and checking whether the root certificate used to generate the TLS certificate is included in the local root program/store.
Google plans to create its own root directory storage called Chrome Root Program , which will be provided with all versions of Chrome on all platforms except iOS. The project is still in its initial stages, and there is no timetable for when Chrome will transition from using the operating system root storage to its internal list.
Google manufacturers have issued rules for certification authorities (CAs). Browser manufacturers are urging CAs to read these rules and apply to be added to the new Chrome root program whitelist to ensure that Chrome users can transition seamlessly by then.
As ZDNet said, this method of packaging root storage in the browser without using the underlying operating system is nothing new, and Mozilla's Firefox has been doing this. There are many reasons for Google to do this. The first is that Chrome’s security team can intervene and ban misbehaving CAs more quickly. Second, Google wants to provide a consistent experience and common implementation on all platforms.
However, Google's move does not seem to be very welcome. The IT administrator of a large software company in Iasi, Romania accused that this would bring more work to the system administrator . "We now have another root storage list to manage, a new group policy to set, and a new change log to follow up. We are already very busy."
A Reddit user also said that this is not an improvement, it just makes it more difficult for companies that have their own CA to keep everything in sync.