Google Safe Browsing to start blocking sites with ads leading to unwanted software

Google Safe Browsing starts blocking websites with unwanted software download adverts

Google’s much vaunted Safe Browsing has finally started blocking websites which dont adhere to strict advertising guidelines. From now on Ad networks that don’t vet their ads carefully before serving them on websites will be the next “victims” of Google’s Safe Browsing service.

Google has been on a silent crusade since August 2014 against websites contain unsolicited software or malware (or, as some AV vendors call them, potentially unwanted applications), as defined in this Google policy.

Most unwanted software comfoulage their software into posing as a helpful download but ultimately these kind of softwares make changes to the users’ browser and its settings. Such changes that are profitable to the software’s creators but are a nuisance users. In fact, they could ultimately harm the user. These unwanted software than hire ad agencies to push for the downloads through advertising on websites. The ad agencies more often than not do not vet these softwares thus putting users at grave risk.

Google has been making changes to its Safe Browsing web service, which serves to warn Chrome, but also Safari and Firefox users, about unsafe websites. The service uses a continually updated blacklist of unsafe sites, against which each requested site is checked before being loaded by the browsers.

Moheeb Abu Rajab and Stephan Somogy, from the Google Safe Browsing Team, have announced that in the coming weeks, the Safe Browsing service will start showing more warnings about unwanted software than usual.

“Unwanted software is being distributed on web sites via a variety of sources, including ad injectors as well as ad networks lacking strict quality guidelines. In many cases, Safe Browsing within your browser is your last line of defense,” they noted. “If you want to help us improve the defenses for everyone using a browser that integrates Safe Browsing, please consider checking the box that appears on all of our warning pages,” they pointed out, and added that, as before, the service is only meant to protect people and their data from malware and phishing attacks and, in this case, malvertising attacks.

So next time you see a warning in your Google Chrome, you know Google Safe Browsing is doing its work very efficiently.

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