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8.10.2009

Are URL Shorteners Secure?


With the explosion of microblogging through services like Twitter and Facebook Status Updates, there has also been an explosion in the use of URL shorteners like bit.ly, is.gd, and tinyurl.com. As with the growth of anything on the internet, there is a parallel growth of security threats. The one thing that bugs me out about URL shorteners is that you never know what lies beyond the cute little shortened URL. It's a perfect platform for the delivery of malicious links to unsuspecting victims, and I'm surprised there have not been more security issues with short URLs. In the meantime, you can use a great tool like Untiny.me before you click that link.


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