Browser security·29 questions

How to check a website for security?

Answer

Security while surfing the internet starts with the ability to properly assess the reliability of the resources you visit. To protect yourself from scammers and malware, you should always perform a comprehensive check of a website before entering personal data. This will allow you to notice suspicious signs in time and avoid infecting your device.

The following steps will help you check websites:

Pay attention to the address bar: the presence of a green padlock or a secure connection icon means the encrypted HTTPS protocol is being used.
Click on this padlock icon to examine detailed information about the issued SSL certificate and verify its authenticity.
Carefully check the spelling of the domain name, as attackers often use phishing addresses with subtle character substitutions.
Copy the suspicious link and check it via the specialized service VirusTotal for threats in antivirus databases.
Use browser reputation extensions, such as Web of Trust, which show real reviews from other users about the given resource.

A comprehensive resource analysis takes only a few seconds, but it completely eliminates the risk of visiting fake pages. You should be especially careful when checking sites where you are going to enter bank card details or passwords for important accounts.

Remember that modern cybercriminals create very high-quality copies of well-known websites. Therefore, a combination of visual interface inspection, certificate verification, and the use of security tools is the key to your online security.

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