You can certainly overcome the possibility of downloading malicious programs to your computer by avoiding visiting websites that support malicious software. URL scanners scan links that you open in your browser, and notifies you if any suspicious activity is noted. As such, URL Scanners prove to be of great use in keeping malicious programs away.
URL Scanners for Chrome or Edge
Google Chrome includes features built upon Google’s Safe Browsing system which warns if a site or download is malicious But if you are looking for more protection, you can check out this list of URL Scanners that you may like to add to Chrome as plug-ins. They are completely free and can be used on the new Edge (Chromium) browser too.!
- Quettera
- Short URL Scanner
- VTChromizer from VirusTotal.
1] Quettera
The URL Scanner scans a given website URL for suspect Javascript code, hidden HTML elements, dubious PDF files and more. It has been included by VirusTotal so, it is no ordinary tool. Quettera offers a Windows client capable of scanning preferred URLs. When you first download the program simple command window-type interface appears.
You can run a scan, then. Simply select the page of choice and wait for few minutes. The program downloads up to 10MB of content, scans for problems and displays any results immediately.
The accuracy of the test can vary. Most of the time the program misses some threats and so flag innocent pages as “potentially suspicious”. So, you will need some web development and security experience to properly understand its reports.
2] Short URL Scanner
ShortURLScanner is a free Google Chrome plugin for scanning short URLs for malicious items. It uses McAfee SiteAdvisor (siteadvisor.com) to retrieve reports on websites you visit. Occasionally, you may need to restart the browser to make it work correctly.
All you need to do is highlight the URL you want to check for malicious content and hit the browser action icon for Short URL Scanner. After a few seconds or minutes, an alert will pop up showing whether the link is safe for you to browse.
3] VTChromizer from VirusTotal
VTChromizer is a Google Chrome browser extension that simplifies the process of scanning Internet resources with VirusTotal. It allows you to scan links directly with VirusTotal’s web application.
Unlike VTzilla, VTchromizer does not embed itself in the browser’s download dialog, only in the context menu. Google Chrome still does not offer an API to modify the download dialog. You can still scan any file you want to download by right-clicking on the link to the file and choosing the Scan with VirusTotal option.
If you do not use Chrome, you may have a look at Website URL Scanners & Link Checker addons post.
Let us know if you have any favorites.
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