Overview
- Microsoft's Edge browser now includes a scareware blocker, currently in preview, designed to protect users from tech support scams.
- The feature uses a locally-run machine learning model and computer vision to identify malicious full-screen pages resembling known scams.
- When a potential scareware page is detected, the blocker exits full-screen mode, stops audio playback, and displays a warning with user options.
- Users can report malicious sites or false positives to improve the tool and enhance the Defender SmartScreen service for others.
- Microsoft emphasizes privacy by ensuring the scareware blocker operates entirely on the user's device without sending data to the cloud.