Google Chrome warns you if the site you're trying to visit is suspected of phishing or malware, using Google’s Safe Browsing technology.
What is phishing and malware?
A phishing attack takes place when someone masquerades as someone else to trick you into sharing personal or other sensitive information with them, usually through a fake website. Malware is software that gets installed on your machine often without your knowledge, and is designed to harm your computer or potentially steal information from your computer.
For more pointers on keeping your family safe on the web, read Google's Tips for Online Safety. Learn about other security settings and additional technologies, such as sandboxing and auto-updates, that Google Chrome uses to keep you safe on the Web.
How does Safe Browsing work?
Safe Browsing works in two ways to help protect you against phishing and malware. First, Google downloads a list of information to your browser about sites that may contain malicious software or engage in phishing. If the URL of the site you're on matches anything in the list, your browser will contact Google’s servers for more information to make a decision. If your computer then decides that you're visiting a risky site, it can warn you about it.
Second, Safe Browsing helps to protect you against targeted phishing attacks (sometimes called “spear phishing”), where a site may not already be known to Google so isn’t on the list of phishing sites. Chrome does this by analyzing the content on the site and warn you if it seems suspicious.
Google Chrome phishing and malware alerts
Here are the messages you may see when phishing and malware detection is enabled:
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| The Website Ahead Contains Malware! | This message appears if Google Chrome detects that the site you're trying to visit may have malware. |
| Danger: Malware Ahead! | This message appears if Google Chrome detects that the web page you're trying to visit may have malware. |
| Reported Phishing Website Ahead! | This message appears if Google Chrome detects that the site you’re trying to visit is suspected of being a phishing site. |
Disable phishing and malware detection
- Click the Chrome menu
on the browser toolbar.
- Select Settings.
- Click Show advanced settings and find the "Privacy" section.
- Deselect the "Enable phishing and malware protection" checkbox.
Using a Chrome device at work or school? Your network administrator might configure phishing and malware detection for you, in which case you can't change this setting yourself. Learn about using a managed Chrome device
