In recent days, Gmail’s more than 1.8 billion users may have noticed a banner at the top of their inboxes encouraging them to “get additional protection against phishing.”
Google has started rolling out its Enhanced Safe Browsing feature for Gmail users to protect them against malicious emails.
What is Enhanced Safe Browsing?
Google’s Enhanced Safe Browsing offers real-time protection against phishing emails and malicious URLs. The feature builds upon the company’s Safe Browsing blocklist API, which involved comparing URLs to a list of malicious sites and blocking access to any previously flagged sites.
The Safe Browsing blocklist automatically updates every 30 minutes, however, many malicious actors could still launch attacks — like spear phishing and virus injection — within the update window. Enhanced Safe Browsing works in real-time, resulting in greater protection for users.
“Enhanced Safe Browsing for your account works automatically in the background to provide faster, proactive protection against dangerous websites, downloads, and extensions,” Google states.
“If you choose to turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing for your account, Enhanced Safe Browsing keeps you safe when you’re signed in and improves your security in Google Chrome and Gmail.”
Google previously released Enhanced Safe Browsing for Chrome in 2020. The following year, Google said that users who used the feature were 35% less likely to fall victim to phishing attacks. Now, the company is deploying the feature for Gmail users as well.
Privacy Concerns with Enhanced Safe Browsing
Google’s security feature also has its drawbacks. For starters, the company requests the user enable the feature and does not do so by default, as it requires the user to share real-time information. This includes the user’s visited URLs, download history, browser extensions, and system information.
The company temporarily associates this data with the user’s Google account. It does not specify what happens after this “temporary” period. On Chrome, it anonymizes the shared data so that it is no longer linked to the user’s account. However, studies have shown that even anonymized data can be coupled with public data and linked to a person’s social media profile.
With phishing continuing to grow as a menace to both individuals and organizations — especially with the rise of AI-powered tools like WormGPT — the privacy trade-off may be worth the added security.
However, it is important to be aware of what enabling Enhanced Safe Browsing actually entails. We recommend reading up on what user information Google collects to make an informed decision.
How to Enable Enhanced Safe Browsing
Users can turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing by clicking “Continue” on the banner atop their inbox. This will take them to their Google Account landing page with a small box containing information about the feature and a toggle switch to enable it.
Alternatively, users can enable Enhanced Safe Browsing by following these steps:
- Head to the Google MyAccount page and log in.
- Select the “Security” tab on the left and scroll down and find “Enhanced Safe Browsing for your account.”
- Click on “Manage Enhanced Safe Browsing.” This takes you to the landing page with a small box with information on the feature.
- Toggle the switch to enable Enhanced Safe Browsing.
