Keep yourself safe online

Many internet users in India are coming online for the first time and there is a need to simplify ways to make them safe, a Google executive said here on Tuesday.

Safer Internet Day 2017 is being celebrated globally on Tuesday, with the theme ‘Be the change: unite for a better internet’.

“We need to simplify and amplify ways by which users in India can stay safe. Safer Internet Day provides for an important opportunity to engage and encourage young users across the country to learn more about keeping themselves as well as their peers and families safe online,” Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director (Public Policy) Google India told reporters.

Google has been working on tools including spam detection and ‘Safe Browsing’ measuring billions of signals across sites and apps to make the web and the constellation of Android apps as well as devices safer, he added.

‘Safe Browsing’ feature warns users against unsafe websites found infected with malware, virus or a phishing trap.

Google has also developed the ‘app analyser’, a modified version of ‘Safe Browsing’ that specifically hunts for dangerous apps in Google Play, other app stores, and on the web, and warns users on identifying any unsafe application.