Anti-steering refers to rules or technical barriers that prevent a developer or seller from directing users to an alternative offer, website, or payment method outside a controlled platform. In practice, this can include blocked links, restricted messages, or UI limits that keep users inside one checkout or app-store flow.
It matters in cyber security because control over the purchase path affects trust and fraud risk. If users cannot be guided to verified payment pages, they may be more likely to stay in a platform’s safer flow; if restrictions are misused, they can also hide cheaper or more secure options. Defenders watch anti-steering behavior as part of user-journey integrity, checking whether routing, links, and payment choices are being suppressed, rewritten, or used to push users toward spoofed or misleading pages.