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BRIEF: New link shortener with integrated security checkHAMBURG, Oct 10, 2010 (dpa - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- If you've used Facebook or Twitter, then you probably know how they work: link shorteners turn long web addresses into short ones. Yet it's impossible to know where a shortened link really leads just by looking at it. In a worst case scenario, users can be duped into visiting a virus-infested website. A new service now makes it possible to post shorter web addresses with an integrated security check. In principle, the service from IT service provider McAfee works the same way as the well-known services Bit.ly, Tr.im and Tiny URL. In this case, though, a click on the link first leads to a scan by the company's security software to ensure the address is safe and trustworthy. The analysis of addresses shortened at McAf.ee works with the same extensive database of dangerous websites used by the company's other services. The company reports that tainted links have been spreading quickly through the Twitter universe in recent months. In some cases this has facilitated the fast spread of dangerous software, the software experts warn. To see more of dpa, go to http://www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html Copyright (c) 2010, dpa, Hamburg, Germany Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |