New Online Safety Danger: Website Notifications

“Just the list for people in a hurry…”

Note: This is not a substitute for the full article. It's a just a summary of the things you should know about a new online safety danger.

  Web browsers allow websites to show notifications on your computer or phone

  These notifications appear outside the browser window

  websites have to get your permission to show them

  They can look similar to operating system notices and alerts

  Many site notifications are safe, legitimate, and helpful

  But some can be taken over by hackers and scammers

  They trick website owners into showing these rogue notifications

  It's very hard, even for experts, to tell the difference between legit and bogus notifications

  Your best defense is to decline requests to show notifications unless you're 100% sure they're safe

  You can also tell your web browser to stop asking and just auto-decline all notifications

Please read the article for details. If you're confused by anything let us know so we can help.