How to check if a website is safe? Look for these signs.

Ensuring cybersecurity: A practical guide to identifying and circumventing online fraudulent websites

The Internet is full of fraud, so it is crucial to conduct website security checks. Before accessing any resources and leaking important personal information, be sure to ask yourself: "Is this website safe?" This article will provide some top tips to help you check the security of your web pages.

While it is crucial to know how to identify dangerous websites before visiting, this is not the only way to protect you from all kinds of online risks. We will also discuss other measures you can take to keep your online security. Continue reading to learn more.

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As promised, this article will show you some elements that can be used to check if a website is legal and secure. While this is not a complete list, hopefully it points you in the right direction. Let's get started.

Identify (and question) the seal of trust

You can do this by looking at the "s" (HTTPS instead of HTTP) in the URL bar. Websites should use HTTPS, not HTTP! You can also find padlock icons that represent a secure private connection between a web page and a device. Click the padlock to view the certificate to confirm that your connection is encrypted.

If you purchase items online and do not have an encrypted connection, your personal data (including credit card information) will be sent in plain text. This means that any middleman, such as a hacker or a middleman trying to get this information, can see it. However, using certificates can encrypt the connection between you and the server, making this information harder to see.

But remember that just seeing the seal of trust is not enough. Attackers are now able to imitate real seals to deceive users. Fortunately, it is quite easy to verify the true seal of trust. Just click on the padlock to see if it will direct you to a verification page. This shows that trusted websites work with security partners responsible for protecting data exchanged and stored there.

Read the privacy policy carefully

The next step to checking the legality of a website is to check its privacy policy. Each website should specify how to collect your data. Secure websites that work hard to develop this policy show that they value their customers’ privacy.

Unfortunately, many privacy policies are complex and written in legal terms. If you are interested in understanding how a website manages your personal data, look for expressions such as “third parties,” “data,” “storage,” “retention,” and similar ones.

Prompt to use Pareto Security to prevent your data from being stolen or accessed by unauthorized personnel. The app scans the device to verify that specific settings are enabled and notifies you of aspects that should be improved.

Find contact information

The third point is the company's contact information. When you check the website, find a complete list of contact information, including email address, contact number, and physical address.

This information will not protect you from risky websites, but it will let you know who you should contact when you encounter any security-related questions.

Use scam website checker

Use a website security checker (such as Google Safe Browsing Website Status) to quickly check if the website is legal or if a specific URL is safe. This is a great security website checking tool because according to Google, it "checks billions of URLs every day, looking for harmful websites". Simply copy/paste the URL into the search box and press Enter to see if the link is safe. Within seconds, Google's URL checker for safe browsing will evaluate the links and provide feedback on the legality and credibility of the website.

Check the layout of the website

This is another way to quickly check a website. Cyber ​​criminals often quickly create unsafe websites, ignoring the eye-catching design aspects. Find things like annoying popups, malware ads, search engine warnings, and a lot of different spam. There may be grammatical and spelling errors throughout the site.

Using security tools

For those who are unsure how to check if the website is safe, using antivirus is undoubtedly good. But the tools don't stop there. You should know that you can use other security technologies to protect your computer from malware.

To further reduce the risk when browsing on the web, we recommend using ClearVPN. With its help, you can safely connect to the website you are visiting. ClearVPN is essential if you access the internet on a public Wi-Fi network or any other unsafe area. Even if someone maliciously controls a Wi-Fi network, the app blocks your traffic so that no one can see what you are browsing.

Another app that every Mac user should have is CleanMyMac X. It can scan your device and remove malware with a few clicks.

Here is how to clean malware from your Mac using CleanMyMac X:

1. Open CleanMyMac X
2. On the left side of the window, click "Malware Delete"
3. At the bottom of the window, click Scan.

Tip: Rethink how you store your password. Never use weak passwords, such as your pet's name, your child's birthday, or the infamous unsafe 12345. If you store your password securely, your important account will be safer from snooping eyes trying to steal your data or money.

So if you haven't used a password manager yet, the next step is to use it. While Keychain is a feature of macOS, it is far less user- or enterprise-friendly than other options.

Secrets is one of the most popular password managers on Mac. It has an amazing interface, is very easy to use and very intuitive.

Please read also:

• Best iPhone VPN
• Personal network security tips
• How to use a VPN on iPhone and iPad
• Best Windows Defender Alternative for Mac

Understand signs of unsafe websites

In some cases, you can immediately answer the question "Is this website safe?" Here are some signs that may indicate malware on the website you are visiting:

• Search Engine Alerts: When using certain search engines, alerts may appear when trying to access potentially dangerous websites. Although these alerts may sometimes be wrong, other sources are recommended.
• Spam: Strange websites with exclamation marks and flashing warning signs are signs of infection.
• Redirect: Browser hijackers can embed malware that automatically directs visitors to unrelated and potentially dangerous web pages into a website. If you encounter such technology, close all unwanted web pages immediately and start the CleanMyMac X malware removal module.
• Popups: If the website you are visiting causes many popups to appear, close your browser immediately. This strongly suggests that the site may contain malicious ads.

Check if the company is real

There are some metrics you can check to determine if a company is legal.

Physical address and phone number: If the company provides both information, the company is more likely to be legal. Reputable businesses won't hide their contact information, so if something goes wrong, you can contact them.

Return Policy: Reputable websites should include both their shipping and return policies. If you cannot find these policies on their website, you may not want to purchase items from them.

Reasonable Price: It is great to find a discounted price, but you should be wary of sites that sell items at far below their due price. You may receive fakes, stolen items or not receive anything at all.

Privacy Statement: Reputable websites should provide you with a privacy statement detailing how they protect your information and whether they share it with external parties. Before purchasing, you should confirm that the website has a privacy statement and read it carefully.

Check the legality of the website and prevent malware from taking advantage of it

Now you know how to check if the website is legal. However, not every website follows all these rules. Some sites may seem credible at first glance, but that doesn't mean they will be a safe resource. So, this work depends on you to check if the website is legal! Learn what you need to look for (hope this article helps) and take advantage of modern security tools like Pareto Security, Secrets, ClearVPN, and CleanMyMac X.

Today is your lucky day, as all the apps mentioned in this guide are accessible via a single Setapp subscription. With over 240 Mac and iPhone tools, the platform can solve almost every task you may encounter! Try Setapp for 7 days for free and feel the difference.

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