How to protect your device by turning on Scareware Blocker in the Edge browser

How to protect your device by turning on Scareware Blocker in the Edge browser

Many Internet users are subjected to electronic scams that take advantage of their ignorance of cybersecurity fundamentals and trick them into downloading malicious software or paying for services that never existed. 

One of the most prevalent of these techniques is fraud that poses as official technical support, or "technical support scam," in which users are presented with fictitious warning messages stating that their devices have been compromised or infected with viruses and requesting that they contact the company or download a program to fix the issue. 

In the most recent version of its well-known browser Edge, Microsoft added a new feature called "Scareware Blocker," which employs artificial intelligence to thwart this kind of threat. What is this feature? And how do you activate it to protect yourself? Let's explain.

With the help of artificial intelligence, this new security feature in Microsoft Edge can instantly identify any indications of fraud by scanning the content on your browser screen. 

The function focuses on preventing the spread of a particular kind of malware known as "scareware," which deceives users into visiting malicious websites by posing as a user-friendly interface. 

The majority of us have come across this kind of software at some point. It takes the shape of a pop-up window that claims to have viruses on your computer and requests that you download a malicious program or pay money to resolve the fictitious issue.

In order to identify any attempt to make scam messages appear as though they are from a reputable, official company, like Apple or Microsoft, Scareware Blocker uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and analyze visual elements and web page interfaces. 

Hackers often use a design similar to system windows and icons to trick users into believing that the warning is real.

Microsoft Edge has long relied on Defender SmartScreen to combat such attacks, but the problem is that it relies on the reputation of bad files and sites that the user visits, which means that a large percentage of scammers fall for it. Scareware Blocker adds a layer of protection by using artificial intelligence to intelligently analyze a page and determine when there is a direct scam attempt, even if the page is “badly reputed.”

When a scam attempt is detected, Scareware Blocker disables any window-filling mode that might trap you in and force you to download malicious files or pay money, displays a clear warning message to the user about a potential scam, stops annoying warning notifications that create a sense of danger, and finally, provides a reporting option to improve the protection system in the future.

Simply open the browser, press Enter to check for updates, and then type [edge://settings/help] to get started. 

If you are using an old version, the latest version will be automatically downloaded, which is—as of the time of writing these lines—Edge 133. After downloading the update and restarting the browser, press the menu button (⋯) in the upper right corner (or left if the browser language is Arabic), then choose “Settings.” Then, from the menu on the left side, go to the Privacy, Search, and Services section and scroll down to the “Security” section, where you will find the option to activate Scareware Blocker (you will find it above the aforementioned Microsoft Defender SmartScreen feature, which you should also activate if it is not).

After following these steps, the scareware blocker will work in synergy with Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, where the former will identify malicious pages and the latter will store them in the database so that other users do not fall into the same trap in the future. When Scareware Blocker identifies a malicious page, it will display a message saying, “This site looks suspicious.”. If you are sure that the page is completely safe, you can ignore this message and continue browsing by clicking Continue; otherwise, click Close Page.

Finally, we advise you to activate the Scareware blocker feature and always rely on it, but if this feature is annoying to you, you can disable it by going to the settings and switching the same switch from On to Off, but again, we do not recommend that at all.