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Google Helping Apple Users Fight Phishing Attacks

August 15, 2017

A very large portion of malware infections start by someone opening a dangerous attachment or clicking on a malicious link. The bad guys are getting really good at crafting e-mails that get users to click without thinking. Before clicking, it would be nice to know where a particular link was going to send you. Graham Cluley writes, "On Apple iPhones, for instance, there is a way to view a URL before you click (press and hold a link to open a window that displays a link's URL) but it's a palarver [sic] compared to simply hovering your mouse over a link. And even then, the limitations of a mobile device's screen size may mean that you can't see the *full* URL, or the use of a URL redirection service might disguise the link's true destination."

Google is helping iPhone users by bringing anti-phishing security checks to its Gmail app for iOS. If Google believes the link to be malicious, a warning box will pop up telling you that "This link leads you to an untrusted site. Are you sure you want to proceed to <example>.com?" You have a choice to cancel or proceed. If you proceed, an even stronger message will be displayed. A similar feature has been available to Gmail users on Android since May. While Google's warnings are a good step, don't think that every bad link will be tagged as suspect. Sometimes you do have to use your brain to exercise caution when using technology.

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