Your organization may have recently installed the Gmail Add-on Phish Alert Button (PAB). In this article, you will learn how this tool works and how you can use it to help keep your organization safe from malicious phishing emails. For more information on the PAB add-on, visit the Gmail Add-on Phish Alert Button Product Manual.

When Do I Use the PAB?

You should click the PAB anytime you suspect that you have received a phishing email or any potentially dangerous email. The emails you report will also be forwarded to a designated contact within your organization for analysis.

The PAB should only be used to report emails that you believe are malicious. If you receive spam or marketing emails, you should not use the PAB to report these emails. You can delete these types of emails or add the sender or sender's email domain to a block list.

How Do I Use the PAB?

Once you have installed the PAB add-on and granted Data Access, you will be prompted to log in to your Gmail account as an end user. After logging in, you can open your inbox to find the PAB on the right side of your inbox in the add-on section.

You can use the PAB icon to report any email as a phishing email, but you cannot use the PAB to report multiple emails at once. You should report each potential phishing email individually. However, if you report an email that has multiple emails associated with it, all of the associated emails will be reported as well. If your organization has enabled the user comments and disposition feature, you can also add comments and select a disposition to provide more information about the email.

Gmail Inbox

To use the PAB add-on in your online inbox, follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your Gmail account on your web browser.
2. Open the email that you would like to report.
3. Open the add-on menu on the right side of your Google inbox and click the phish hook icon to open the PAB add-on.
4. Click the blue Phish Alert button to report the email.
5. Once the confirmation message appears, click the back arrow to go back to your inbox. The reported email will be moved to the Trash folder.
   Note:If you're viewing an email in split pane mode, the back arrow is not available. You can change your Gmail inbox settings to make the back arrow visible. You can also click Inbox or your browser's back arrow to go back to your inbox.
   

Gmail Mobile

To use the PAB add-on from the Gmail app on your mobile device, follow the instructions below.

1. Log in to the Gmail app on your mobile device.
2. Open the email that you would like to report.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and locate the available add-ons section.
4. From the add-ons section, click the phish hook icon and scroll down to the bottom of the screen to access the PAB.
5. Click the blue Report This Suspicious Email button to report the email.
6. If enabled, you will see a confirmation message and the email will be moved to your Trash folder.
7. Click the back arrow to return to your inbox.

Why Should I Use the PAB?

Reporting emails will help your organization stay safe. Because the potential phishing emails you report are sent to your organization for analysis, your organization will be aware of which phishing attacks are able to reach your users' inboxes. Once your users are aware of possible vulnerabilities, they can better defend against cyber attacks. You are an important part of the process of keeping your organization safe from cybercriminals. Stop, Look, and Think!