You’re on the web, minding your business—and then out of nowhere, you lose control of your screen. Pop-up windows flash warnings that your PC has been compromised or you’re being spied upon. However, if you take the remedy suggested, like downloading so-called antivirus software, you’ve actually fallen for a type of scam known as scareware.
To combat this old form of malware, Microsoft will soon upgrade Edge with a new form of protection. Announced during the Microsoft Ignite conference, the company will use machine learning to identify scareware within Edge tabs and warn users of the danger. The browser will contain the perceived scam attempt unless you give the green light—so if you know the site is safe, you’re still able to proceed.
Scareware protection will first become available to organizations, who must guard regularly against threats to their users and networks—especially if an employee is tricked into granting remote access to their machine. But with Microsoft saying this feature will make online browsing safer “inside and outside of work,” consumers should expect to eventually get this protection, too. That timeline may be fairly extended, though, as Microsoft also says its scareware blocker will enter public preview in “coming months.”
If 2024 was a year of massive data leaks and security issues, 2025 may be on track to patch the damage. In addition Microsoft boosting Edge’s defenses, other huge tech companies such as Google are also giving their products a shot in the arm. Just earlier this week, the possibility of disposable email addresses in Gmail surfaced, which would supercharge the privacy of billions of email users.