Last year, Chrome started blocking downloads of programs and executable files that could be dangerous because they are malware or because they are able to change some computer settings without asking, such as the browser homepage or the default search engine. This protection in Google Chrome has been expanded and not only dangerous file downloads are blocked but a warning is also placed every time you try to access a site that encourages unwanted software downloads. In addition, Chrome is also able to block deceptive websites, that is, those that are identical to the original sites and also have a very similar name that can easily be misleading (for example g0ogle instead of google).
Using Chrome and keeping its option of protection against malware and phishing active, it can therefore happen, when you try to open a certain website, to receive messages such as :
- The website in view contains malware .
- Danger: malware in sight!
- A phishing website has been reported. The site you wish to visit may be a phishing site.
- The site you are about to visit contains malicious programs .
The latter is the new warning that warns about a legitimate site that however invites you to download virus programs for your computer and you can see it by clicking on this example page.
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The Safe Browsing feature that blocks downloads and dangerous sites is always on in Chrome by default but you can also disable it .
Go to the Chrome settings (by pressing the button with three lines at the top right), expand the advanced settings and, in the Privacy section, remove the " Activate protection against phishing and malware " option. In the settings there are two other options related to safe browsing, sending statistics and reporting security problems to Google in order, therefore, to actively participate in the discovery of malicious sites.
Obviously those who are concerned about privacy can disable all these options, even if Google declares that it cannot see which sites are visited by the various users and, above all, that the data sent to Google's servers is anonymous.
In addition to stronger Google Chrome protection, Google has also updated the search engine to eliminate ads and disable advertisements for dangerous, malicious or deceptive sites. For example, you can try searching for " download VLC " with Google and no longer find advertisements for sites that had downloadable versions of the popular VLC program. By doing the same search on Yahoo, you will notice that it is very easy to fall into a trap.
In 2019 Google also released an extension for Chrome that allows you to send the suspicious site report to Google, to be used when opening a deceptive web page. Just install Suspicious Site Reporter and press on the extension when you come across some site with scams, dangerous downloads or which aims to deceive you.
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