Domain URL typos aren’t always harmless – the slightly misspelled website might actually be a registered domain that could put your device in trouble. The risk has grown as the number of top-level domains has increased; instead of just .com or .org, now there’s also .xyz, .capital and many more. Double-check any URL you type […]

There are still a lot of websites out there that haven’t made the switch to secure connection. It’s easy to spot these if you check the URL before going to the site. Look at the prefix in the address bar; if it is “https://” then you’re safe. If it’s “http://” it means the site is […]

Services like Bitly are great for creating unique short URLs and keeping character length down. This is particularly relevant for social media posts, especially Twitter — where every character counts (quite literally!). But be vigilant before opening these types of links. The abbreviated URL could be hiding malicious intent.

Not every link leads to where it says it does. Before clicking it, look to see if it seems weird. For example, if it contains a domain associated with another country or is unusually long and complex. You might also want to run it through an online link expander if it’s been shortened to something […]

This advice isn’t always feasible. However, when you can, consider visiting a website via a saved bookmark or by manually typing in the address, instead of clicking a link from an email or other source. The latter method might take you somewhere unexpected. Using a bookmark or typing (with or without browser auto-complete) is generally […]

Not all websites end in the familiar .com, .org and .gov top-level domains. Many new ones were introduced in the mid-2010s. Some of these, including .blog and .fitness, are widely used by reputable outlets, while others like .click and .loan are havens for scams. Watch what you type in your URL bar, as something like […]