Nowadays, most cybercriminals use links, a seemingly harmless internet staple, to infect and wreak havoc on people’s computers. Malspam emails with malicious links were four times more common in 2018 than malspam emails with malicious attachments. Malicious links, however, do not only exist in emails. They can also be found in social media, messaging apps, and text messages.
Malware is an expensive cyber-attack on businesses, costing them an average of $2.4 million per attack. Take a look at this overview of the best online tools for quickly checking the safety of a link or site to help protect your work computer, data, and funds from any malicious viruses or worms.
1. URL Void
URLVoid is a powerful online spammy links checker. It scans a website with over 30 blocklist engines and web assessment utilities, making it easier to find malicious and deceptive URLs. Enter the URL in the provided space and click “Scan Website” to check for malicious code.
URLVoid also provides a URL reputation API for developers. Using this Reputation API, you can quickly identify potentially dangerous and fraudulent URLs. This API searches for potentially harmful URLs using built-in and pre-programmed standards.
Many cyber security firms use it to speed up the investigation of cyber threats, making it easier to identify potentially dangerous sites and URLs that have been flagged as threats by multiple reliable sources.
2. IP Quality score
IPQS malicious URL scanner is a highly recommended URL checker tool for detecting malware infections and phishing links. To begin the scan, enter a URL and press Enter. It examines the target URL using a blacklist registry library and deep learning algorithms.
Users can conduct a phishing inspection using the most recent threat information and live-data analysis, as well as parked domain detection to identify fake websites frequently used for spamming.
It also displays useful information such as the risk score, status code, content type, and web server name.
3. ScanURL
ScanURL alerts you to potentially fraudulent, suspicious, or dangerous websites, allowing you to browse the web more safely. The service uses third-party services such as Web of Trust, Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic, and Phish Tank to detect malware, phishing, viruses, and poor reputation.
Although ScanURL is ad-supported, it produces useful results that indicate whether or not you should visit the site.
Avoid the site if ScanURL flags it as dangerous. To use the tool, enter the URL to be checked into the checking field, add a nickname and a comment, and click the Check this URL button to begin the scan.
You can copy the permanent URL once the result page has loaded.
ScanURL does not track redirected or shortened URLs.
4. Norton Safe Web
Norton Safe Web scans links for security and safety flaws to determine how they will affect you and your device. This way, you can determine a website’s security before visiting it.
The link checker also summarizes security issues discovered after analyzing the linked website. You can see if there are any computer or identity threats on the website and view proof of safety validation. This is especially important if you make digital purchases on the site because it protects your personal and financial information.
To scan a link, enter the URL into the search box and press the search button.
Norton Safe Web will scan the URL and provide a rating based on various tags. A green OK tag indicates that the link is safe, a yellow or orange tag indicates caution, and a red tag indicates the link is unsafe.
If a link is rated caution (yellow or orange), the site may contain a few annoyances and threats, but it is not deemed dangerous enough to warrant a warning. Even so, proceed with caution when clicking on the link.
Norton Safe Web also displays community reviews about the site, allowing you to read what other users say and add your voice to the reviews thread.
Norton Safe Web also provides the Safe Search and Home Page Chrome extensions, which validate links before you click on them.
5. Criminal IP
Criminal IP is a new security OSINT search engine with a groundbreaking IP-based search system and tracking technology. Domain Search is a Criminal IP feature that scans target domains in real-time and provides comprehensive information on that domain, including a final 5-level risk score, detection of phishing, mapped IP, real IP, tech stack, redirection, DNS record, certificates, and so on.
This service also scans for new malicious links that have not yet been registered in the existing database. When a specific domain URL is submitted for scanning, a scanner is launched to perform scanning and AI-driven analysis, determining whether the URLs are malicious and should be blocked accordingly. This service offers direct URL search, precise keyword search, and simple filters to help users find what they need.
6. PhishTank
PhishTank is a global community repository for online phishing research information. Rather than looking for malicious infections, PhishTank allows the user to determine whether a link is secure.
This website records internet sites that engage in phishing activity, allowing you to scan for suspicious links and determine which sites are safe to visit.
PhishTank provides an open API that allows programmers and academic researchers to integrate anti-phishing data into existing solutions. The website allows anyone to validate links submitted by previous visitors.
7. VirusTotal
VirusTotal employs an aggregated and comprehensive data methodology to detect harmful and malicious URLs. To conduct a website scan, enter the target web URL in the input field and press Enter.
It offers programmers both public and private API Services. These APIs can be used to create your URL checker tool for your website. They are, however, only permitted for non-commercial purposes.
This program can look at file hashes, IP addresses, and URLs. It detects malicious links and websites by cross-referencing the most recent virus scan results from URL scanning providers with more than 60 other services. Finally, the results of the tests can be immediately shared with the security community for future reference.
Bonus: Google Transparency Report
Google Transparency Report is an excellent and dependable URL scanning service for detecting embedded malicious infections. Enter the URL to be checked, and press enter to proceed. If any dangerous websites are identified, Google safe browsing technology immediately alerts the website owner via the search console.
When someone attempts to access it, Google automatically displays warning messages in web browsers and on Google Search. Unlike well-known URL checking tools that scan from other providers, it uses its proprietary technology to detect malware.
Bottom line
Obtaining admin privileges to infect websites with malicious code and implant exploits is a growing motivation for hackers. This methodology enables malware to be distributed across a wide range of systems while avoiding using typical computing resources required by attackers.
The challenge of identifying dangerous links and preventing system damage never ends. To avoid malware infection, encourage better browsing habits and follow internet safety rules before clicking suspicious links.
