URLs or web-links form the backbone of the world wide web, which is being indexed and shared among billions of users on a daily basis. We indulge in the practice of sharing URL’s of articles, YouTube videos, etc. with friends on a daily basis, without realising that we may unknowingly be passing on links that may be unsafe and insecure. These links may be designed to steal your personal information or infest your computer with sophisticated malware; clickjacking in website ads is a prominent example. In order to ensure safety and security from malware or phishing infested URLs, some extensions for Chrome and Firefox are listed below:

Dr Web anti-virus link checker (Chrome and Firefox)

This extension from Dr Web is an online antivirus solution that scans webpages instantly for malware infestation, blocks advertisements and disables the ability to monitor user activity. It protects against phishing attempts and virus infections in social media websites; any external links are also scanned in these aforementioned places. After scanning the external links, it displays a warning about following links from social networks to other websites, etc. It also blocks those annoying Flash banners that can be an annoyance. You can also individually check any link by highlighting it, right clicking in Chrome and selecting “Check with DrWeb”. For chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/drweb-anti-virus-link-che/aleggpabliehgbeagmfhnodcijcmbonb?hl=en and Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/drweb-scan-link/

Virus Total (Chrome and Firefox)

Virus Total is one of the most robust link checkers out there acquired by Google in late 2012. It scans for suspicious files and URLs; facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines. It is completely free; integrating over 40 antivirus solutions and 20 URL scanning tools. For chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vtchromizer/efbjojhplkelaegfbieplglfidafgoka and Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vtzilla/

Safe Preview (Chrome and Firefox)

Safe preview focuses on protecting a user’s privacy by offering features to check URLs through Norton Safe Web, WOT and McAfee. Along with that, it offers the ability to block ads, disable website tracking scripts, etc. Much like the above two extensions, a Simple right-click of the mouse in Chrome browser allows you to select the URL you can scan with Safe preview to check for malware. Within the Safe Preview option; are housed three options: Is it safe, Regular live view, and Chrome incognito mode. Also previewing a web page in the regular window or Google incognito window is also possible. For Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/safe-preview-adblock-do-n/icmbdchmgaaihfdlphhcdlecjehdngbk and Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/safe-preview/?src=api

UrlVoid and Securi Sitecheck

UrlVoid (urlvoid.com) offers a free service to analyse and scan websites through multiple blacklist engines to detect fraudulent and malware-infested websites. You can simply visit Urlvoid.com and check any web-link you suspect may be dangerous for viewing and confirm your suspicion by inputting it. UrlVoid may not be able to scan shortened links from Tinyurl, bitly and other social media ones from Twitter or Facebook. For scanning shortened URLs like bitly, Tinyurl using a service named Uncoverurl (http://www.uncoverurl.com) is highly recommended. Input the URL or copy paste it from any 100 of Url shorteners, and let Uncoverurl work its magic. It will display the expanded URL and details of the Url input to ensure that you don’t view any malware or phishing link accidentally.

The writer is associated with Digital Rights Foundation. He tweets @MohammadFarooq_ and blogs at http://mohammadfarooq.net

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 21st, 2016