Nowadays, most cybercriminals leverage a seemingly harmless staple of the internet to infect and ravage people’s computers with malware -- links. In 2018, there were four times as many malspam emails with malicious links than malspam emails with malicious attachments. But malicious links don’t just lurk in emails. They also skulk around in social media, messaging apps, and even text messages.
Malware is the most expensive cyber attack on companies, costing them an average of $2.4 million for each attack. So to help protect your work computer, data, and funds from any malign viruses or worms, take a look at this overview of the best free online tools for quickly checking the safety of a link or site.
How to Check if a Link is Safe
ScanURL.net - Check a URL/link or website: phishing, malware/viruses, unwanted software, reported suspicious. Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic, PhishTank, Web of Trust. Software designed for use in other countries may not adequately cover everything your staff need to know to be effective and safe in their job roles. Australia is a very different country to others, even within our own region, so software that is designed for Australia will always be the right choice. Why online training is.
To check if a link is safe, plug it into a link checker. Link checkers are free online tools that can analyze any link’s security issues (or lack thereof) and alert you if the link will direct you to a compromised website, malware, ransomware, or other safety risks. We’ve provided descriptions of the three best link checkers below.
3 Link Checkers That’ll Help Protect Your Computer, Data, and Funds
1. Norton SafeWeb
Run by Norton, a premiere antivirus and anti-malware software provider, Norton SafeWeb can analyze any link for its safety and security problems. Norton SafeWeb also gives you a summary of the website’s computer threats, identity threats, annoyance factors, and proof of eCommerce safety validation, which is crucial for protecting your personal and financial information when you buy products or services on the site.
2. Google Transparency Report
By leveraging their own Safe Browsing technology, Google can examine billions of URLs per day to find unsafe websites. They uncover thousands of dangerous sites everyday, and they’ve discovered that many of these sites are actually legitimate but they’re also compromised. To check if a site is compromised or dangerous, just plug one of its links into Google’s free online tool.
3. URLVoid
URLVoid is a service that can gauge a website or link’s online reputation and website safety, detect any fraudulent or malicious behavior, and identify if its ever been involved in a malware or phishing incident. To do this, URLVoid filters links through over 30 blacklist engines and online website reputation services. They also provide you with a safety report that includes the blacklists used to check the link and its website’s details like blacklist status, domain registration, IP address, and more.
-->Important
This article is intended for business customers who have Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection. If you are using Outlook.com, Office 365 Home, or Office 365 Personal, and you're looking for information about Safe Links in Outlook, see Advanced Outlook.com security.
Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) helps protect your organization from phishing attempts and malware through features, such as ATP Safe Links, ATP Safe Attachments, and anti-phishing protection. When protection is in place, links (URLs) in email messages and Office documents are checked. If a URL is identified as suspicious or malicious, you might be blocked from opening the URL when you click it. Instead of going directly to the site, you might see a warning page instead.
Read this article to see examples of warning pages that might appear, along with recent updates to warning pages.
Examples of warning pages
ATP is scanning the link
A URL is being scanned by ATP Safe Links. You might have to wait a few moments to try the link again.
A URL is in a suspicious email message
The URL is in an email message that seems similar to other email messages that are considered suspicious. We recommend that you double-check the email message before proceeding to the site.
A URL is in a message identified as a phishing attempt
The URL is in an email message that has been identified as a phishing attack. As a result, all URLs in the email message are blocked. We recommend that you do not proceed to the site.
A site has been identified as malicious
The URL points to a site that has been identified as malicious.
We recommend that you do not proceed to the site.
We recommend that you do not proceed to the site.
A site is blocked
The URL is blocked for your organization. There are several reasons why a URL might be blocked. We recommend that you contact your organization's Office 365 administrator.
An error has occurred
Some kind of error has occurred, and the URL cannot be opened.
Recent updates to warning pages
Several warning pages were recently updated for Office 365 ATP. If you're not already seeing the updated pages, you will soon. The updates include a new color scheme, more details, and the ability to proceed to a site despite the given warning and recommendations.
URL scan in progress
Original warning page:
Updated warning page:
Malicious site warning
Original warning page:
Updated warning page:
Blocked URL warning
Original warning page:
Updated warning page:
'Error occurred' warning page
Original warning page:
Updated warning page: