14 DAY TRIAL // Google has recently introduced a new feature that will make users feel safer when browsing the web. The new feature will provide users with answers to four essential questions, namely: "What is the current listing status for [the site in question]?," "What happened when Google visited this site?," "Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?," and "Has this site hosted malware?" These questions are meant to provide web users with a general clue about a suspicious site.
Ever since 2006, Google has been trying to help its users feel safe when browsing the web. Back then, users were shown warning labels in Google's search results and the data was published via the Safe Browsing API to client programs such as Firefox. Although the system proved to be accurate, it could not cope with the high numbers of attackers using sophisticated obfuscation techniques or injecting malicious payloads only under certain conditions. That is why the Mountain View giant has decided to release a Safe Browsing diagnostic page, which will provide users with detailed information about suspicious sites.
When searching for a suspicious site, the answer to the first question will provide you with exactly this information. The other three answers will render statistics collected by Google, over a period of ninety days. Google's new Safe Browsing diagnostic feature will provide users with a reliable tool in determining whether a web page is or isn't to be trusted. Still, the number of attacks that trick Google's crawlers into flagging a harmful site as a clean one is high enough. This demonstrates that hackers are doing a good job in adapting their tactics.
Some of the users commenting to Google's new feature voiced their desire of seeing a Firefox add-on, which would provide users with a small notice icon in the status bar. This add-on, which would be similar to McAfee SiteAdvisor, is meant to improve the quality of this feature.