DuckDuckGo Updates Web Browser with Enhanced Scam Protection

DuckDuckGo has enhanced the extensive free protections in its desktop and mobile web browsers to address new kinds of scams and other online threats.

“We believe the best way to protect your personal information from hackers, scammers, and privacy-invasive companies is to stop it from being collected at all,” the DuckDuckGo announcement post explains. “Our browser and built-in search engine never track your searches, and our browsing protections help stop other companies from collecting your data, too.”

Among the DuckDuckGo browser’s protections is a Scam Blocker that guards against phishing sites, malware, and other common online scams. This functionality is free, and it works without tracking your browsing data or sharing it with third parties. And now it’s being enhanced with new protections against scam websites that offer investment opportunities, cryptocurrency trading schemes, discounted pharmaceutical products, affiliate surveys with cash rewards, and the like; and scareware that claims your device is infected with viruses or spyware and then attempts to sell you bogus or unnecessary antivirus software.

DuckDuckGo says that other web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari rely on a Google Safe Browsing service for phishing protections, so they send your browsing data to Google. But the DuckDuckGo Scam Blocker was built independently using a Netcraft malicious sites feed, and it works anonymously, without requiring a sign-in of any kind. This feed is updated every 20 minutes and stored is available locally on your device. DuckDuckGo also maintains a more comprehensive database on its server to handle a tiny minority of less common threats–less than 0.1 percent–that requires an additional authentication step but is also anonymous.

The DuckDuckGo Scam Blocker is on by default and is available in the desktop and mobile versions of the web browser. DuckDuckGo also offers a Privacy Pro subscription for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year that offers these protections to all apps on your devices, including other web browsers, through the DuckDuckGo VPN.