Four Great Ways to Find a Safe Website
There are many websites on the Internet. Many sites can be dangerous and spread malware, steal information, or send spam. Internet technology has advanced so much that you can now purchase, communicate, learn, and conduct transactions online. This development has also opened up new avenues for hackers, cybercriminals, as well as attackers.
To be secure, you need to know how to search for safe websites.
This post will share some excellent and simple ways to ‘find a safe website and protect yourself from scams. Let’s get down!
Pay close attention to the URL
It would surprise you to see how many people don’t pay much or no attention to the address bar of their browsers. Your location and security level are all contained in the address bar.
Next time you visit or connect with a website, make sure to look at its URL. It is considered secure if it begins with HTTPS:// // and displays a green icon. HTTPS is a secure protocol that encrypts all communication between your browser (and the website) and protects you from many spy threats such as attacks from middlemen.
Verify Trust Seals
When a company invests in its customers’ safety, it takes some credit. Trust seals are created to protect customers. Various trust seals can be found on the Internet, including McAfee and PayPal, Norton Secured powered By Symantec, Google Trusted Store, and many others.
These trust seals can be found on the website’s home page, login page, or payment pages. Although they may look like normal signs, these seals indicate security on the site. Click on the seal to find out more about its safety and how to identify safe websites.
SSL certificates often come with trusted seals that will verify the information you are clicking on. To confirm a website’s credibility, it is important to click on these seals. This seal can provide detailed information about vulnerability assessments and malware scans.
Signs of website malware
A website might have an SSL certificate. This is a seal of trust and privacy policies. However, malware can infect it. This type of website can be dangerous for your data and cause you serious damage.
These types of attacks can be identified by the signs listed below:
- Beware of suspicious pop-ups Watch out for strange statements from pop-ups These fake pop-ups are designed to trick people into downloading malware.
- Malvertising You can easily identify malicious advertisements by their spelling errors, unprofessional appearances, and so on. These ads can be dangerous so you should be cautious when clicking them.
- SEO Spam Unusual links on websites are a sign that you have been targeted by SEO spam looking for your personal information. Be careful when clicking on such links.
- Phishing Kits: Phishing kit websites imitate frequently used sites such as banks sites to lure users to send sensitive information. Although they may appear legitimate, spelling and grammar errors can make them seem fraudulent.
Check Certificate Details
This method can sometimes be used by professionals to determine the reputation of a website. This method requires you to go into your browser menu. Before you can use this method, you must be familiar with SSL.
You can view details of the certificate in some browsers by clicking on the padlock. Some browsers require you to dig deeper to see the same thing. For different browsers, follow the steps below.
Firefox
- Click on the Padlock icon in the navigation bar
- Click here for more information
- Click on “View Certificate”
Chrome
- 1. Click on Three Dots to view the menu
- 2. 2.
- 3. 3. Click on the Security tab
- 4. Click on ‘View Certificate’
Safari
- Visit Padlock Icon
- Click on “View Certificate”
After you have reviewed the certificate details, it is time to examine the “subject”. The subject refers to the website or company that the license is for. You will receive different amounts of information depending on which type of certificate you have (OV, DV, or EV).
The Bottom Line
You can explore endless activities and sites on the internet. You can get help from a watch for “How to identify safe websites”. You should also be aware of the types of scams and frauds that are being perpetrated by websites.