Browsing Safety: Scanning hyperlinks

     Malware-spreading technology nowadays have become so innovative that even visiting a webpage can cause your machine to be infected. So how do we make sure the links and webpages that we visit do not contain something malicious? Here are some tips that you might want to take note for a safe browsing.

1. Use a Sandboxed Browser. This is one (if not the) of the most basic and safest way to ensure that no webpage can cause unpleasant changes to your computer. With a sandboxed browser, you are sure that any attempt to change the settings or copying files into your computer are blocked or filtered.

2. Stop and Look before clicking. How sure are you that the link you see in the webpage directs you to the page you are expecting? With simple HTML, a malicious coder can have you visit his webpage that contains a Drive-by or downloader that infects your computer. Here's an example:

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=002683415331144861350%3Atsq8didf9x0&q=online+link+scanner&ie=utf-8&sa=Search

     If you simply read the link above, you would assume that you are to visit a search result in google, But if you check your browser's status bar(bottom row in your browser that shows the status of a webpage), it actually points to my blog's URL. This may seem to be an easy trick, but if you are in some exciting read about something over the internet, you most likely don't give notice to this.

3. Believe in your Anti-virus' link scanner. When your AV says it is a blacklisted page or URL, believe it. Dont risk your crucial data and information over your wrong suspicions. IT Guys know what is harmful and what is not for your system.

4. Scan the suspicious link! If you got the seconds to do so, scan your links with online link scanners. There are lot of 'em out there in the wild. A good sample that I personally use is www.UrlVoid.com.*

5. Use a proxy website. This one may not be so convenient, but in case you are sure that the webpage you are to visit is unhealthy for your computer and you only need to read a few lines from it, use a Proxy website. Just like Online Link Scanners, there are lot of them and they are also free to use.

     There are a lot of other techniques to ensure safety when browsing that I did not happen to include here so just google 'em.

*TrendMicro Link scanner always report proxy websites as infected. I do not actually trust their report. XD