We happen to live in a time where millions of online users browse through millions of websites every day.
It becomes mandatory for every website owner to ensure the visitor’s safety. However, regrettably, some websites aren’t secure at all. An unsafe website can endanger visitor safety by spreading malware, stealing information, sending spam, and much more.
You can spend a lot of time and effort setting up a secure Wi-Fi network, but it can all be for naught if you visit an insecure website that infects your device with a virus or steals your personal information. You don’t want one visit to a poor website to inflict harm that might take months to repair, whether you’re performing online research or rubbing that online buying itch. Fortunately, you can learn how to identify a safe website from a dangerous one.
Be wary of misspelt URLs and ambiguous characters.
Homoglyph, also known as homograph, attacks and misspelt or otherwise deceptive URLs are among the most common methods used by cybercriminals to trick people into visiting their malicious websites. While it may sound like you’ll be hit over the head with a dictionary, a homoglyph attack occurs when threat actors register domains with names that are very similar to others but use visually ambiguous characters or contain an indiscernible addition.
Consider the misspelling “Microsoft” in a domain name such as “rnicrosoft.com,” where the “r” followed by “n” might be misread as “m.” (depending on the font, point size and care the reader exercises). Alternatively, one or both of the “o” letters in “facebook” can be replaced with a Greek omicron “o” in a domain name such as “facebok.com” (in case you couldn’t tell, the second “o” has been replaced with an omicron “” below).
Confirm their trustworthiness
If you see an icon with the words “Secure” or “Verified,” it may be a trust seal. This signifies that a website collaborates with a third-party security service provider. These emblems signify that a site has HTTPS security and other safety measures, such as the date of its most recent malware assessment.
It is critical to verify the seal in order to determine its legitimacy. You may verify its validity by clicking on the badge, which should take you to a verification website. This manner, you can ensure that the site is indeed cooperating with the security service provider and is secure. You may also do a who is query to determine who owns the site you’re visiting. Who is a record that contains information about the domain you are looking for, such as who owns it, when and where it was registered, and how to contact the owner. To do a who is inquiry, go to a specialised website and input the address of the website you’re looking for.
An SSL certificate is what permits a website to have the additional “s” at the beginning of its URL, indicating that it is safe. However, there are many levels of SSL certification. A website can get Domain Validation (DV) at the very least, which implies that the site’s ownership has been validated. When entering personal information on a website, you want the greatest degree of validation, Extended Validation (EV). This indicates the firm has established its validity as a business, as evidenced by the lock emblem mentioned above.
Locate contact information
Any respectable firm that wants to develop a long-term connection with its consumers will include contact information on its website in case something goes wrong. It usually consists of a contact form, an email address, a snail mail address, or a phone number. When attempting to determine if you are dealing with a serious or reputable organisation, there are numerous warning signals that you should be on the watch for. For example, if you contact the stated phone number and it is disconnected, or if the person who answers the phone does not sound professional, you are most likely dealing with a scam.
Make use of a recognised security solution.
Using a comprehensive, trustworthy security solution may help defend against the majority of cyberthreats, including rogue websites. Security software will often examine the webpage with a built-in scanning engine that looks for harmful information and will block access to the website if anything that may constitute a threat is detected. This prohibits the download of any harmful information.
Finally, how can you tell if a website is safe?
Simply knowing whether or not a website is secure can help protect your personal information. It is not always straightforward or apparent to evaluate if a website is trustworthy and safe, but this should not prevent you from using the internet.
Simply take a precautionary approach by looking for indicators of secure websites. So, before you click a potentially harmful link or provide any personal or financial information to a website, make sure you follow the guidelines outlined above.