Google Launches Browser Extension to Let Users Flag ‘Deceptive’ Sites

Google has launched a Chrome browser extension allows users to report suspicious sites to the firm to include in its “Safe Browsing” index.

TechCrunch reports that Google recently launched a new extension for its Chrome web browser which allows users to flag suspicious sites to be included in the company’s “Safe Browsing” index. This index is used by Chrome and a number of third-party web browsers. Google is also launching a new warning in its web browsers which alerts users when they may be attempting to access a site that could be potentially dangerous.

The Safe Browsing index usually crawls the internet independently to track down websites that pose a threat to users, but now users can flag sites that the index has yet to detect. The extension allows users to include screenshots of the offending website, the chain of referrers that led users to the site and the DOM content of the user’s web browser.

A flag in the web browsers extension section will now change color to determine the authenticity of a website, turning orange for any site that isn’t a top 5,000 site. The new warning page in Chrome is designed to protect users from deceptive URL’s. For instance, “go0gle.com” which replace one letter with a zero and the actual URL of “google.com.”

“This new warning works by comparing the URL of the page you’re currently on to URLs of pages you’ve recently visited,” the Google Chrome team explained. “If the URL looks similar, and might cause you to be confused or deceived, we’ll show a warning that helps you get back to safety.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com