Chrome and Firefox are again blocking direct access to The Pirate Bay's download pages. According to Google's safe browsing program, ThePirateBay.org is a "deceptive site" that may steal user information. The TPB crew has been alerted to the issue and hope it will be resolved soon.

Millions of Pirate Bay users are currently unable to access the torrent detail pages on the site without receiving a stark warning.

Over the past few hours Chrome and Firefox have started to block access to ThePirateBay.org due to reported security issues.

The homepage and various categories can be reached without problems, but when visitors navigate to a download page they are presented with an ominous red warning banner.

“Deceptive site ahead: Attackers on Thepiratebay.org may trick you into doing something dangerous like installing software or revealing your personal information,” it reads.

“Google Safe Browsing recently detected phishing on thepiratebay.org. Phishing sites pretend to be other websites to trick you,” the Chrome warning adds.

Chrome’s latest Pirate Bay warning



Firefox is showing a similar error message, as do all applications and services that use Google’s safe browsing database, which currently lists TPB as “partially dangerous.”

According to Google the notorious torrent site is linked to a phishing effort, where malicious actors try to steal the personal information of visitors.

It’s likely that the security error is caused by a malicious third-party advertisement. The TPB team informs TorrentFreak that they are aware of the issue, which they hope will be resolved soon.

This is not the first time that The Pirate Bay has been flagged by Google’s safe browsing filter. The same happened just a month ago, when the site was accused of spreading “harmful programs.” That warning eventually disappeared after a few days.

By now, most Chrome and Firefox users should be familiar with these intermittent warning notices. Those who are in a gutsy mood can simply “ignore the warning” or take steps (Chrome, FF) to bypass the blocks permanently.