One of the greatest tools against malicious activity is community support and feedback. Of course software developers work hard to make sure that users don’t suffer at the hands of hackers, but they can’t detect every single threat on their own. That’s why it’s a great idea to help them out by reporting any malicious activity you come across. There’s already a system in place which tells users if they are about to access a dangerous website. If you are trying to access a website that is known as malicious, you will be informed and given the option to either go back or disregard the warning. This is thanks to the Google Safe Browsing tool provided by Google.
What happens when the site you’re accessing isn’t flagged?
When you are accessing a malicious website that isn’t flagged yet, you are in grave danger for obvious reason. However, if you come to the conclusion that the website is indeed malicious, you can report it back to Firefox.
What happens when you report websites that aren’t flagged yet?
If you were expecting for Google to just put sites on their blacklist simply because you say they belong there, you will be a little disappointed. When a report is sent, Google uses some really fancy algorithms to detect whether or not the website in question is indeed a threat and a dangerous place to visit. If something is found, the website is added to the blacklist of websites that cannot be trusted.
What if the website stops being malicious?
Google believes in redemption and as a result will remove websites from its blacklist if they come to the conclusion that it is no longer housing malicious content. This is done in the aftermath of follow up searches, which can happen.
How to actually report a website for being malicious?
- Open the menu in Firefox
- Look for the question mark icon which represents Help
- Once you open the Help section, use the “Report deceptive site” option
- Fill out the form that appears on a new web page afterwards
That’s pretty much it. As you can see, it’s pretty easy to just report a website when you find something fishy. It definitely is a small price to pay, a matter of a couple of seconds, for the good that it can do. Each website that is blacklisted means a ton of people not being caught in a malicious environment later on.