In its never-ending efforts to eradicate the web of malicious sites and digital destinations packed full of phishing and social engineering software, Google is to start labelling websites that persistently target people as "repeat offenders."
When a site fails to meet Google's existing safe browsing policy, if you navigate towards it via the company's Chrome browser, you'll get a warning that it potentially contains malware or other content potentially harmful to the health of your PC.
When the owners of the site remove the offending items, the warning is also removed.
But, as Google explained in a statement on Wednesday, this existing system has essentially created a loophole. "Over time, we've observed that a small number of websites will cease harming users for long enough to have the warnings removed, and will then revert to harmful activity."
The solution is to brand such sites as "repeat offenders" and ensure the label remains in place for a minimum of 30 days, even if the site's webmaster attempts to appeal the Google ruling.
"We continuously update our policies and practices to address evolving threats. This is yet another change to help protect users from harm online," said Brooke Heinichen, Google Safe Browsing Team.
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