The saying prevention is better than cure has never been more true in the present environment of growing online scams. Nowadays, distinguishing between safe and unsafe websites has become extremely difficult. To surf the internet with confidence and not worry about becoming a potential target, it’s crucial to know how to check if a website is safe with an unsafe website test. Today our guide will help you with the same to ensure your online safety.
How to Identify and Protect Yourself from an Unsafe Website
The number of fake websites and spammers getting out of control who are just waiting to get personal data and breach security. So, it’s important to protect yourself before waiting for something to happen.
Method 1: Check Website URL
The first thing to do is to check for the URL of the website you’re visiting. Fake websites generally have a URL with grammatical mistakes or punctuation. Also, check whether the website has a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) i.e. HTTPS at the URL beginning. It ensures that the site is legit and encrypted. However, keep in mind that not every site without it is necessarily unsafe.
Check whether the site shows a secure network before its URL. To do this, follow the steps below:
1. Open any website and click on the site information icon next to its URL.
2. Check if the site has a locked icon that reads Connection is secure.
Method 2: Frequent Redirects
You’ll often be redirected to the pages that you didn’t open. Your search engine can also give you an alert for unsafe websites at times. In this case, immediately close the website.
Method 3: Privacy Policy of Webpage
The easiest to know whether a webpage is safe is by checking the privacy policy of a particular site, its cookies, and what kind of data it collects from you before accepting its terms and conditions.
Method 4: Website Reviews
Whenever in doubt, you can always try to search for the reviews of a particular website from Google, Reddit, or Quora and see if people have posted any complaints of suspicious activities.
Method 5: Several Pop-Ups
If back-to-back pop-ups are asking for information that is not related or irrelevant to the site you visited, then close all the tabs immediately.
Also Read: 26 Best Free Malware Removal Tools
Method 6: Change Site Settings
You can also directly manage and customize the site settings. Here’s how:
1. Open any website, click on the site information icon next to its URL, and select Site settings.
2. Click on Delete data to remove any data from the page or choose other settings as you wish.
Your site settings will be changed.
How to Check if a Website is Safe with an Unsafe Website Test
There are various third-party sites available to check whether a site is safe or not. One such is SSLTrust. Follow the steps mentioned below to check if a website is safe with an unsafe website test using SSL trust:
1. Open SSLTrust on your browser.
2. Enter the domain name in the text box and click on Submit.
3. Wait for some time and you’ll get the whole report on Malware, Spam, SLS/TLS report, and much more.
If no issues are found, then the site is safe to use.
How to Scan Website for Malware on Google
Refer to the section below for different methods on how to scan websites for malware on Google.
Method 1: Through Official Google Transparency Report
Follow the steps mentioned below to scan the website for malware on Google using the Google transparency report:
1. Open Google Transparency Report on the browser.
2. Enter the URL under Check site status and click on the search icon.
3. Now just scroll down and check the status of the site from this Google website URL safety checker.
Method 2: Use Other Third-Party Tools
You can use different online tools like Small SEO Tools to detect malware on Google. Follow the steps mentioned below:
1. Open Small SEO Tools on your browser or phone.
2. Scroll down and select Google Malware Checker under Website Tracking Tools.
3. Enter the URL and hit Enter.
You will get the site’s safety report.
Also Read: Fix The site ahead contains harmful programs Alert on Chrome
What are the Preventive Measures to Protect Yourself from an Unsafe Website?
Apart from the above methods, always keep in mind not to open any unwanted links and do not provide any personal information. To be extra safe with browsing online, you can also change the security settings of your browser. Follow the steps to change settings in Chrome:
1. Open Chrome and click on the three dots in the top right corner.
2. Click on Settings > Privacy and security > Security.
3. Under Advanced, turn on the toggle for Always use secure connections.
Now, whenever you open a site that does not have HTTPS in its URL, you will get a warning before proceeding.
You can also run the Safety check scan on the Privacy and security page frequently to ensure the safety of your browser. If you find any compromised site or password, ensure to check and update if required.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. What is the Google Website URL Safety Checker?
Ans. Google provides its users with a website URL safety checker i.e. Safe browsing site status. You can check for the website and get a Transparency report on whether the site is safe to use.
Q2. What to check on a website to ensure it’s safe?
Ans. You can check if a website is safe by checking the privacy policy of the website or looking for a lock symbol next to its URL.
Q3. Can I get rid of the virus if I clear cache?
Ans. A time-to-time clear cache may help prevent it to an extent. It’s advisable to run a malware scan and clear the cache periodically.
Also Read: How to Unblock Websites on Chrome in Windows 10
Online safety has become the top-most priority and by knowing how to check if a website is safe with an unsafe website test, you can protect yourself from scams. Keep reading our blogs for more information. Leave your suggestions and queries below in the comment section.
