We’ve seen this happen countless times: you go to a website to download software and reach a download page with several “Click to Download” buttons, where only one is the actual download link. Clicking on these misleading ads could be a nasty affair, where you could be redirected to a site that automatically downloads malware without your knowing, or even pop-ups that parade you with scareware, prompting you to download bogus anti-virus software. Worse still is when some sites are actually hosting malware that is disguised as useful software. Thankfully, Google is helping to clear that out.
Google has taken precautionary steps in order to keep everyone safe on the internet. The number one web search company introduced a new feature that is part of its Safe Browsing program for the Chrome browser. According to the Google Online Security blog, this new feature was created to protect people against “what looks to be convincing but its not” software, either a virus or malware program that may lead to personal information scam.
Beginning next week, Google will expand the Safe Browsing protection against deceptive software on Chrome. Google Chrome will show a warning similar to the image above if there is such attempt made to trick users into downloading and installing any suspicious software. But, in the event that Google has mistakenly red-flagged a legitimate software, you can override the command and proceed to download, making it a useful first line of defence against malware.
(Images via Ford Springer)
(Source= Google Online Security Blog via Engadget)
