Want to quickly sort out real emails from spam? Spot a bad links on web pages? Identify sham web sites? I have a suggestion: learn to read URLs.
Learning to read URLs is like taking a class in street self-defense or carrying a can of mace. Actually, much better because reading URLs can’t be turned against you. You might end up in the hospital or worse if you resist a street thug with your self-defense skills, but you will never be injured spotting a bad URL.
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), more properly called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), direct all the traffic on the World Wide Web. Almost every cyber-attack directs traffic to or from an illegitimate URL at some point in the assault. If you can distinguish a good address from a bad address and develop the habit of examining internet addresses, you will be orders of magnitude more difficult to hack.
Addresses are constructed according to simple rules. You can master the rules you need to know in order to distinguish legitimate addresses from scams in a few minutes. And be much safer.
If you want to dig deep into URLs, take a look at RFC 3986. There is much more to URLs than I cover here.
Here is a typical simple URL:
HTTP
The first part, called the scheme, “http:” tells you that it is a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) address. You need to know two things about the HTTP scheme. First, almost all data on the web travels to and from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone over HTTP. In fact, if an address does not begin with “http”, it’s not a web address. There other schemes, the most important of these is “mailto:”, which designates an email address. More on this below.
Secure HTTP
There is an important variant of HTTP called HTTPS. The “S” stands for “secure.” Data shipped via HTTPS is encrypted and the source and destination are verified with a security organization. HTTPS used to be reserved for financial transactions, but now, with all the dangers of the network, HTTPS is encouraged for all traffic. When you see “https” in a web address, hackers have a hard time snooping on your data or faking a web site. HTTPS is especially important if you are on open public WiFi at a coffee shop or other public place.
Not too long ago, security experts used to say HTTPS guaranteed that a site was legitimate. That is no longer good advice. HTTPS is not a guarantee that a site is legit. Smart scamming hackers can set up fake sites with HTTPS security. You have to check the rest of the address for signs of bogosity. However, setting up a fake site with a legitimate address is still hard, so a good address with HTTPS is still a strong bet.
HTTP address “authority”
The part of the address following the “//” is the “authority.” Most of the time, the authority is a registered domain name. The authority section of a URL ends with a “/”. Notice that the slash leans forward, not backward. A backward slash is completely different. The “query” follows the forward slash. The query usually contains search criteria that narrow down the data you want retrieved and is often hard to interpret without specific information about the domain. You can ignore it, although sometimes hackers can learn secrets about a web site from information inadvertently placed in the query.
Domain extensions
In the above address, “marvinwaschke.com” is a domain name that I have registered with the with the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). “.com” is the extension. In the old days, there were only a few extensions allowed: “.gov”, “.edu”, “.net”, “.com”, and “.mil”. They are still the most common, although many others— such as “.tv”, “.partners”, “.rocks” and country abbreviations— have been added.
You can use extensions as a clue. For instance, most established firms and organizations still use the old standbys. A web site with a “amex.rocks” domain is likely not the American Express you think it is. We all know that some countries harbor more hackers than others. If an address has an extension that is an abbreviation for a cyber rogue state, be careful.
Remember, these are clues, not rules. A street lined with wrecked cars and broken windows may be crime free, but more often than not, it is a dangerous neighborhood. The same applies to incongruous domain names. They could be safe, but there is a good chance they are not.
Authority subsections
The authority section is divided by periods (“.”s) and reads in reverse. The extension that immediately precedes the first forward slash is the most important. “.com” in “marvinwascke.com” indicates that the marvinwaschke.com domain is in the vast segment of the internet made up of commercial ventures. “marvinwaschke” determines which commercial venture the address refers to. “www” indicates that the address points to the “www” part of the “marvinwaschke” venture. I could set up my website to have a “public.marvinwaschke.com” section or a “public.security.marvinwascke.com” section if I cared to. The “www” is historically so common, most browsers will strip it off or add it on as needed to make a connection.
“Microsoft.marvinwaschke.com” only indicates that my web site has a section devoted to Microsoft. “Microsoft.marvinwaschke.com” has nothing to do with Microsoft Corporation. Hackers make use of this to try to fool you that “Microsoft.pirates-r-us.ru” is a Microsoft site. It’s not! Hackers are creative. Make sure that the right end of the domain name makes sense.
Email URIs
Email addresses are URIs that follow a different scheme but use the same domain name rules. Usually, email addresses drop the “mailto” scheme but they can always be fully written out like mailto://boss@example.com. If you see an address like captain@microsoft.pirates-r-us.ru you can be fairly certain that the mail did not come from Bill Gates.
Near miss URIs
A favorite hacking trick is to register a domain that looks real, but is just a little off. For example, micrasoft.com instead of microsoft.com. Keep an eye out for those little tricks.
When in doubt, Google it
When you see a link or address with a suspicious domain name, Google the domain name before you use the address. Most of the time, Google will pick up information on dangerous domains.
Look at every link with caution
The internet is all about grabbing your attention. Absurd promises abound that that few people would take seriously after they took a moment to think. Losing weight is hard, wealth management is useless if you aren’t already accumulating wealth the hard way, and no miracle food will prevent cancer or make you a genius. Not all ads are scams, but don’t tempt fate by clicking on links that prey on impossible hopes.
Finally
Make a habit of looking at internet addresses. Often, a link on a webpage or in an email is text like ” here “. Hackers hide bogus URLs under innocuous text. They also sometimes use a legitimate URL for the text and stick in a dubious URL for the real target. Like this: https://marvinwaschke.com If you place the cursor over a link or address, most browsers and email tools will display the working address in the lower left-hand corner of the window. Look at the address remembering all the cautions in this post. Does something look wrong? If so, use care. Try the two links in this paragraph to see what I mean. The habit of looking at addresses will make you much harder to hack than unsavvy computer users.
I found you on Neighborhood News. I learned from you already about how to be careful on my computer. I have used a computer for several years.
I am 83. My son signs into my computer when I feel like I don’t know what I am doing.
I signed up to be on your mailing list.
Our family does a Zoom meeting once a week. I have alway been impressed with what I can do on the internet. Zoom connecting our family together has impressed me the most. I have a granddaughter in New York City, a son visiting in Kamloops, most of my family is in the Seattle area and I am in Bellingham.
Barb– I hope the site is useful to you. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to put them in comments. I’ll either do my best to answer directly or write a post on the subject. Marv