Suspicious Site Reporter

Almost everyone has come across a Google Safe Browsing warning at least once. This red screen indicates that the website you are trying to visit is potentially dangerous, as it contains malware or engages in phishing.

The Safe Browsing system is used by most popular browsers, but it is, of course, not foolproof. Many dangerous websites are not yet included in the blacklist, and Suspicious Site Reporter, a Chrome extension from Google, allows regular users to help add new ones to the database.

After installing the extension, a new icon will be visible in the Chrome toolbar. If the website you are visiting is known to be safe, you will see a green flag; if it is considered suspicious, the flag will turn orange, and the number of identified issues will also be shown.

You can click the icon to see why a website has been deemed suspicious and specify what information should be included in the report. After it is sent, you can just continue browsing normally.

The website’s URL and IP address are included in the report by default. You can also choose whether to attach a screenshot of the webpage, DOM content (including all HTML files on the site) and the referrer chain.

If you click Screenshot you can see exactly what the image would look like before it is sent, which can be important if sensitive information is also visible. You can also preview the referrer chain before deciding whether or not to include it.

We can only assume that all reports will be thoroughly evaluated and only truly malicious websites will be blocked. It remains to be seen how effective this extension will be, as we imagine a lot of safe websites will also be reported.

Nevertheless, releasing Suspicious Site Reporter certainly seems like a great idea from Google, as it will help them find more malicious websites to block, while also providing users with an easy way to report them when they come across something suspicious.