Google Chrome now warns you about suspicious websites
What's the story
Google is adding a new safety feature to its Chrome browser, aimed at warning users about potentially malicious websites. The "suspicious site warnings" will be displayed when the Enhanced Protection feature of Chrome is enabled. The new system builds on a two-stage approach introduced for file downloads in 2024, which uses different notifications for blocked files depending on their classification as "suspicious" or "dangerous."
Detection process
How does the new warning system work?
The new feature flags a website as suspicious if it shares common characteristics with other sites linked to phishing, malware, and scams.
Google describes this warning as having a "lower confidence verdict" with a possible risk of user harm.
This means there's a chance it could be incorrectly flagged, but you should only proceed to the site if you're 100% confident it's safe to do so.
Warning types
What's the difference between 'suspicious' and 'dangerous' warnings?
The difference between the two types of warnings is easy to spot.
Notifications for suspicious websites will show up as a pop-up on desktop and mobile, with the webpage visible but darkened in the background. There will also be an option to "Mark as safe" if it was flagged by mistake.
On the other hand, notifications for dangerous sites are more intrusive: they cover nearly the entire screen and replace the website with a solid red background.