The increased usage of internet has brought along with it a wide array of security concerns. Just as how a system and its data can get infected by virus, websites can also get infected with Trojans, virus, malware, adware, injection attacks etc. In this article let\u2019s gain an understanding of how to ensure that one visits a secured and safe website. <\/p>\n
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Before digging further into topic, let\u2019s gain an understanding of these jargons:<\/p>\n
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Spyware \u2013It is a program which obtains information from the user\u2019s computer without his knowledge or consent and reports that data to a third party.<\/p>\n
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Adware – A form of spyware that collects information about the user in order to display advertisements in the Web browser based on the information it collects from the user’s browsing patterns.<\/p>\n
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Malware \u2013It is a malicious software developed for the purpose of causing harm to a computer system.<\/p>\n
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Virus -A computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the permission or knowledge of the owner.<\/p>\n
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Trojan \u2013 A malware which appears to perform a desirable function but instead facilitates unauthorized access to the user\u2019s system.<\/p>\n
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Injection attacks \u2013 In simple terms refers to a hacker incorporating malicious code into the server; there are various types of injection attacks, for example iframe injection attacks, SQL injection attacks etc.<\/p>\n
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An expert would be in a position to comment whether the website is virus-infected or not by just looking at it. However for a common man a few techniques can be adopted to check the security of the website before browsing it.<\/p>\n
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When websites are searched for through Google, Google scans the website for possible malware and Trojan infection and rates the site as secured or unsecured. Where the site is unsecured, Google marks the link as \u2018this site may harm your computer\u2019 and prevents the user from further accessing the site. A user can also obtain the diagnostic report for any website whose URL is available in the Google index. This can be achieved by clicking the following link and replacing \u2018website.com\u2019 with the actual website \u2018URL\u2019.<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/www.google.com\/safebrowsing\/diagnostic?site=website.com<\/p>\n
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This diagnostic page provides information about current listing status of the site (i.e. suspicious or not), details of last scan done by Google, if the site has hosted malware during a period of time etc. This Google safe browsing diagnostic page can easily help the user identify if website is infected or safe to visit.<\/p>\n
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Some web browsers come along with add-ons to identify malware and spyware; for instance Mozilla\u2019s firefox browser comes with an add-on called \u2018Web of Trust\u2019 which warns the users about virus-infected websites that could install spyware or send spam. This add-on can be downloaded from the following link:<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/addon\/3456<\/p>\n
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Certain anti-virus vendors have come up with link scanners which scan the website links on a real time basis and mark the website as safe or unsafe on the Google search results. For example free AVG scanner can be downloaded from the following link:<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/linkscanner.avg.com\/<\/p>\n
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Microsoft has also come up with a software called \u2018Windows Defender\u2019 which protects the system against security threats by detecting and removing spyware from the system. More information on \u2018Windows Defender\u2019 can be found from the following link:<\/p>\n
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https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/windows\/products\/winfamily\/defender\/default.mspx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The increased usage of internet has brought along with it a wide array of security concerns. Just as how a system and its data can get infected by virus, websites can also get infected with Trojans, virus, malware, adware, injection attacks etc. In this article let\u2019s gain an understanding of how to ensure that one … <\/p>\n