Gmail for iOS will now show phishing warnings for suspicious links

NEW DELHI: Apple iOS users will now be receiving an alert from Google's Gmail whenever a suspicious link shows up on the email app. The alert from Gmail will come in form of a box, letting iOS users know how it is leading to an untrusted website. Users can, however, still choose to go ahead and open the link.

"Going forward, when you click on a suspicious link in a Gmail message on your iPhone or iPad, we'll show the warning below. We recommend that you use caution before proceeding, because the link is likely unsafe. Only proceed if you're confident there's no risk," says the G Suit blog post.

Furthermore, if a user clicks on a link that Google thinks is dangerous, it will show a web page saying "The site you are trying to open has been identified as a forgery designed to trick you into disclosing financial, personal or other sensitive information." Users will again be given the option to go ahead or even report an incorrect warning.

For those unaware, Google already brought these features to Android earlier this year.

Google this year has rolled out couple of other features for Gmail in order to curb phishing attacks.

Back in May, Gmail users faced a gigantic phishing attack. The scam looked like a regular mail alert with the subject "ABC [Name of the person] has shared a document on Google Docs with you." The mail included a Google Doc link, which appeared legitimate but was actually not. This gave hackers access to the user's Gmail account information.

In February, Google also announced that it won't let Gmail users send '.js' files as attachments. The search giant said that '.js' files were increasingly being used to spread malware. The service already restricts certain file attachments (e.g. .exe, .msc, and .bat) for security reasons.