Web Push Notifications - A Windows Feature That Can Be Annoying and Malicious
by Roger Bergstein, Stuart Computer Service, March 4, 2024
Web Push Notifications are a brilliant idea when used properly. This feature can keep the user advised of happenings and events in almost real time, for example, a weather event, a price drop on a product being monitored, email arrival, etc. These notifications appear in a black box on the bottom right of your screen when using Edge, Chrome, or Firefox. Below are examples of a properly used notification and a malicious notification:
How to turn off Web Push Notifications in Microsoft Edge:
• Click on the Edge Menu (3 horizontal dots, top right of Edge window)
• Click on Settings
• Click on "System and Performance"
• Turn off the "Startup Boost" slider switch (this prevents Edge from running background processes at bootup)
• Turn off the "Continue Running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed" slider switch
• In the Settings column click on "Cookies and site permissions"
• Under "All Permissions" click on "Notifications"
• Turn off the "Ask Before Sending" slider switch
• Remove any sites from the Allow List that you do not want to receive notifications from by clicking on the three horizontal dots next to the site name, then click on "Remove"
How to turn off Web Push Notifications in Google Chrome:
• Click on the Chrome Menu (3 vertical dots, top right of Chrome window)
• Click on Settings
• Click on "System"
• Turn off the "Continue Running background apps when Chrome is closed" slider switch
• In the Settings column click on "Privacy and Security"
• Under "Privacy and Security" click on "Site Settings"
• Under "Permissions" click on "Notifications"
• Click the "Don't allow sites to send notifications" radio button
• Remove any sites from the Allow List that you do not want to receive notifications from by clicking on the three vertical dots next to the site name, then click on "Remove"
How to turn off Web Push Notifications in Mozilla Firefox (notifications are off by default):
• Click on the Firefox Menu (3 horizontal bars, top right of Firefox window)
• Click on Settings
• In the left column click on "Privacy & Security"
• Scroll down to the Permissions section and click on the "Settings…" button to the right of Notifications
• Click the "Block new requests asking to allow notifications" check box;
• In the Allow list change "Allow" to "Block" for any web site that you want to block
