Microsoft Edge to tackle ‘Typosquatting' and stop users from heading to a malicious website

Microsoft wasn’t joking around when it added the “Super Duper Secure Mode” to the Edge web browser. This new security feature will soon attempt to protect Internet users from heading to a malicious website due to a mistyped web address.

Mistyped web addresses are quite common, and Internet users are often greeted with a ‘Website not found’ page. However, ‘Typosquatting’ is an increasingly lucrative lure that malicious cyber criminals are exploiting. Realizing the growing menace and the rising visits to malicious websites with commonly mistyped addresses, Microsoft has now added measures to warn users.

Microsoft recently updated its Chromium-based web browser. Microsoft Edge is now on version 96.0.1054.53. However, it will take some time for the Super Duper Secure Mode or SDSM to offer protection from Typosquatting. Microsoft has added “Typosquatting Checker” to the latest Canary Build of Microsoft Edge.

“Typosquatting is what we call it when people - often criminals - register a common misspelling of another organization's domain as their own,” explains Microsoft. Needless to mention, if a user mistypes or misspells the legitimate site they can, and often do, head to the typosquatter's website.

A well-crafted fake website could easily fool users into handing over their account information. Moving ahead, Microsoft Edge could warn users that they may have misspelled or mistyped a website’s address. The new feature is available in experimental builds of the Edge browser. Hence, it is not immediately clear how exactly will the web browser protect users from Typosqautters.

In its current iteration, the “Typosquatting Checker” warns users about their errors. However, in the future, Microsoft might just tweak the feature to ensure Internet users head over to the correct website automatically. In either case, the company is also actively exploring the legal route.