Shortened URLs have become a conspicuous tool in the weaponry of cyber-criminals, a recent report has revealed.
from ITProportal.com
Written by Ravi Mandalia
The report, published by Symantec Corporation also claimed that last year alone, millions of shortened URL links were advertised on a number of major web-platforms including the social networking websites, with a significant portion of those links resulting in luring the unsuspecting surfers into phishing and malware attacks.
Con Mallon, director of Norton, the consumer online protection brand said in a statement,
“We are seeing that people are being tricked and they're clicking on those shortened URLs”.
Mallon continued, "People have become a little more savvy to looking at the URL to see if it really does look like a proper URL from that company or that individual or that website, but I think when you shorten it, it changes the game".
The report also emphasised on the point that with this new strategy, the “dark-forces” of the virtual world are inflicting far more damage than ever before.
Experts are of the view that though shortened URLs has many a time proved itself as an efficient method to keep it simple, users should really pay some serious attention on their associated security risks, before clicking on these links.
Read more story at ITProportal.com
No comments:
Post a Comment