How To Know If A Website Is Safe or Not? HTTP and HTTPS Protocol

The world wide web has opened a door to the sea of information. All this information comes to us in the shape of websites, on average 5,47,000 websites are built every day. Finding a difference between safe and unsafe websites among so many options is a really hard thing to do. Hackers, scammers, cybercriminals, etc. could be lurking behind any of the given websites. So how to check if a website is safe or not? You may end up losing a lot of sensitive information on unsafe websites, which in turn can cause you to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just imagine providing your social security number or your credit card details on any of the websites that are unsafe, the result could be catastrophic. In this article, we will discuss how to check if a website is safe? What is the importance of HTTP and HTTPS protocol?

Anti-virus programs, firewalls, and other cybersecurity programs can make it considerably easier for you to safe online. When it comes down to being completely safe, being vigilant, and paying attention to small details can help out a lot. Small things like that can help you save yourself from identity theft. If you learn to identify “Is a website safe?” then browsing the internet can be as fun as you want it to be. Read our guide on how to check if a website is safe?

Steps To Check Is Website Safe?

You can either employ the best safe browsing programs or you can choose to pay a little more attention to the sites you are using. Even the best safe browsing systems can sometimes leave out harmful websites. Here’s our step-by-step guide to check Is website safe?

1. What Is The URL?

Most of us end up on websites because we either click on links we find on social media platforms or links we find on other websites. Make sure the website you are visiting is actually the one you planned on visiting. Make sure to inspect the URL every time you visit a brand new website, you can do this by using your mouse to hover over the hyperlink text. Once you do that, the website URL will appear on the bottom left side of your desktop. Analyze the URL carefully to see if that is the website you were looking for. 

If everything seems good at first look, then you can proceed to click on the link. The next step is to ensure that you haven’t been redirected to some sketchy website. If the URL doesn’t match the website you are on, then you should leave right away. 

You can check whether you have fallen prey to the kind of scams that go around the world wide web. Scammers are really great at making the websites look real, but there are small details that make it easy to spot the difference between safe and unsafe websites. Let’s imagine you are trying to visit www.amazon.com and you end up on a website with a URL www.amazoon.com or www.aamazon.com. Small details like this are what helps you find out is website safe?

2. HTTP and HTTPS Protocol

The internet has been running on a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) since the 1990s when Tim Berners-Lee came up with the concept of the World Wide Web and Browsers. In 3 decades nothing has changed except the addition of “S” that stands for secure.

The protocol was initially used by banking and eCommerce websites because of their regular dealings with people’s banking information and credit card information. The reason Why HTTPS over HTTP is important is that it encrypts all the information entered on the website. Nowadays almost all the sites use the HTTPS protocol and Google itself discourages websites that don’t use the HTTPS protocol. If you reach a website that doesn’t have an HTTPS protocol then we suggest you stay clear of the website. Also keep in mind that just because the website has an HTTPS protocol, it doesn’t mean that the website is safe. To keep yourself safe online, you need to understand the importance of HTTP and HTTPS protocol.

3. Check Website Content

If you are convinced that the website URL is okay and it has necessary protocols, the next thing you can try to do how to check if a website is safe? Spend some time on the website and read the content to check for abnormalities. 

Comb through some of the written content on the site, such as the “About Us” page or the blog pages. When you do this, you’re looking to see whether or not the content appears to be generated by humans. Reading a bit of the content will make it easy for you to distinguish whether it has been written by a human or AI (Artificial Intelligence). Paid tools that help in generating content are great and all but you can easily spot whether or not the site is using just the tool. 

If you’re not sure whether the content is genuine or artificially generated, you can have a look at the comments on the blogs. The comments will help you determine “Is a website safe?” If the comments seem too automated or fake then chances are that you are on a fake website.

4. Check For Contact Information

One of the best ways to tell the difference between safe and unsafe websites is by looking for one of the biggest red flags. Most fake website owners don’t really care about providing their contact information. While a lot of websites don’t have their addresses listed but every website has a phone number and Email address. If the website is not safe then chances are you won’t find any reliable source of contact. 

If the website seems shady from the beginning, we suggest you give the number a call to check whether or not it’s real. For spammy websites, the number won’t work, the numbers that will work will have sketchy agents on the other end of the line.

Other Steps To Stay Safe While Online Browsing?

Understanding how to spot an unsafe website can help you save a lot of money. Fortunately, there are a lot of steps you can employ in order to stay safe while browsing the web. 

• Set Up Safe Browsing: Almost all browsers nowadays come pre-equipped with tools that can help you save you from getting scammed. To access these security features, you need to go into your browser’s settings and find either “advanced settings” or “privacy settings”. Once you find security settings, you can enable them as per your convenience. These features can help you block ads, pop-ups, and help you keep your location private from hackers or scammers. 

• Anti-Virus Software: Most of us forget how important Anti-Virus software can be while browsing online. If you want to learn “How to check if a website is safe?” then using Anti-Virus software is your best bet. Even if you come across a website that can infect your computer, then the Anti-Virus software can detect those websites, and block them. Anti-Virus programs can also save you from an attack of pop-up ads.

• Don’t Click If You Aren’t Sure: We don’t have to say it, your safety online is in your own hands. One of the biggest rules of staying secure online is not to click on any website that doesn’t seem safe at all. It’s better to find another website rather than clicking on it. 

Conclusion: How To Check If a Website Is Safe or Not?

While browsing the internet is fun and thrilling, it’s also unsafe at times. Using these complicated online safety methods may seem tough at first, but once you get a hang of it, they become a habit. Plus, a little effort goes a long way in keeping you secured.