TL; DR: A consumer monitoring company called Which?, which we will now call Which? for our grammatical reason, it states that the vast majority of phishing websites are not recognized by Google’s Chrome browser. Google questions the validity and methodology of the study.

According to Which’s study of the latest 800 phishing websites, Chrome only blocks 28% on Windows and 25% on macOS. These numbers are in stark contrast to the top-performing browser Firefox, which redirects users away from 85% of these websites on Windows and 78% on Mac.

Google issued a statement to the UK Independent saying it was skeptical of Which’s findings.

“The methodology and results of this study require careful consideration. For more than 10 years, Google has helped set the antiphishing standard and provided the underlying technology for free to other browsers. Google and Mozilla often team up to improve web security, and Firefox relies heavily on Google’s Safe Browsing API to block phishing, but researchers reported that Firefox offers significantly better phishing protection than Chrome. we remain skeptical [sic] conclusions of this report. »

Phishing scams have been around for almost as long as the Internet. They often take the form of an email or text message containing links to a fraudulent website disguised as an official login page for various legitimate companies. Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers try to filter out these suspicious websites.

Spotted a suspicious email, website, or text message?

» Forward emails to [email protected]
» Forward an SMS to 7726 (free)
Report a website ⤵️ https://t.co/RLYj8OhoUx pic.twitter.com/uu4Pb9eWUQ

— NCSC UK (@NCSC) March 10, 2022

Phishing scams are most easily mitigated at the user level. Consumers should beware of unsolicited emails that request information or direct them to connect to a website, regardless of the official appearance of the email or website. Bad grammar or spelling and unusual URLs are other obvious signs that an email isn’t really from a bank or other website that users frequent.

The UK’s National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC) tracks and analyzes phishing scams. It called on users to report suspicious emails, websites and text messages in March. Websites can be reported to NCSC’s dedicated scam portal, while users can forward emails and text messages to their respective phishing division.