Many hackers seek to trick the user and send emails or messages through social networks with dangerous links using all kinds of increasingly sophisticated scams. To protect your data and your devices, here you will find the best techniques and guidelines to check a link and confirm its veracity.
Email and instant messaging are the main means of malicious links
Detect a fake link it can be complex, but by following certain guidelines on a day-to-day basis, the user will be able to rule out the vast majority without complications. In this list you will find recommendations for safer browsing on the Internet.
Tricks to detect dangerous links on the Internet
-Hover over the link. To check a link, hover over the link. This will display the specific address of the link. Many times hackers hide behind a keyword, but the link tells us that we are going to a different page.
-Pages to analyze links. There are websites dedicated to link analysis. There we can paste the received link, and the page scans its database for malware indicators. Sucuri, PCRisk and URLVoid are the most popular services of this type.
It is enough to paste the suspicious link in the search bar of this page, and wait for the analysis. There we will see if the link really takes us to a secure page, or if it is a fraud or identity theft attempt to steal our information.
-Detect shortened links. Checking a shortened link is a bit more difficult. Link shortening services like bit.ly have become very popular, but hackers use them to trick the unsuspecting user. You can place a shortened link on the GetLinkInfo.com website, and it will show you information about the destination of said link.
-Check the link. In the web browser, right-click on the suspicious link and open the Inspect option in the context menu. This will show information about the link, being able to read the route and detect any indication of irregularity in the link.
It is important to keep safe boating practices in mind. Do not open links from unknown senders, make sure that the link has not come from an account with a spoofed identity, do not share passwords… Hackers seek to generate familiarity to deceive and take the user off guard. If you use these techniques and we check the links, the possibility of falling into the trap is greatly reduced.
