Google wishes to ensure the safety of its users via “Safe Browsing” initiative.
According to Alphabet Inc. t is pushing efforts to protect the privacy of customers. The company wishes to protect users from deceptive content that is present online via an update known as the “Safe Browsing” initiative.
The search engine giant will now warn and flag users when they come in contact with such websites which they term as “social engineering” advertisements. These are basically advertisements that try to cheat on users by portraying themselves as a message observed from a trusted platform such as a software update, notification from a web browser, through the website, or an error message from the PC.
A step ahead in this, the tech giant will flag all those websites that perpetuate such advertisements or host them. The Google users will now be warned so that they do not proceed.
Most of us have encountered such a message while browsing so it actually points out that the company is devoted to ensure the safety of its users. The tech giant does not directly navigate users directly to the site but a red page pops up. Users are then asked if they wish to continue or the session is added there and then. Thus the final decision is on the user. The company can only warn while users have the choice of deciding what they wish to do.
Over the past it has been observed that the company is making use of warning messages so that traffic gets cut off from sites that are involved in malware or phishing attacks along with other things.
Previously, the company made an announcement claiming that they wanted to expand the reach of its Safe Browsing program so that social engineering attacks can be protected. This means that the search giant started to acknowledge users in case wrong means were used to trick the masses. It also stops users from providing personal data to wrong sites. So now the recent update will also cater to advertisements.
Most of us are well aware of the type of advertisements. Where a few make baseless claims that the software we use is out of date or needs an upgrade. They then trick the user forcing them to install unwanted and futile content.
Some of them also pretend to be Play or Download buttons posing an image that once a user clicks on them they will be able to stream or download the content they desire. This issue is mostly faced by the online video streaming platforms that are illegal in nature and immensely popular for free content. Users do not really know that they are being tricked and thus make the wrong move.
At times, it gets really hard to identify such embeds and advertisements even by the most tech savvy individuals of the lot. This is merely because they are designed in a manner which is extremely hard to distinguish. Thus it seems like they are part and parcel of the website which they aren’t.
The tech giant will now show warning on those websites that make use of such malicious tactics. These are usually working close with advertisers. It will flag that the content seems “to act, or look and feel, like a trusted entity” and thus looks like social engineering content. This will ensure safety of users in the long run.
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