Millions of people navigate the web daily, shopping online, entering personal information and browsing social media. But a small fraction of these users consider whether the websites they visit are safe. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are always finding new ways to steal sensitive information from unsuspecting victims. This information can be used to commit phishing scams, malware attacks and other types of fraud. Check website risk

Thankfully, there are many simple things you can do to help keep your information safe while on the internet. One of the easiest is to drop the website URL into a free website safety checker and see what it tells you. These tools examine billions of URLs every day to identify unsafe sites. If a site has been known to host malware, these tools will alert you so that you can take the necessary precautions before proceeding.

Check Website Risk: Tools to Evaluate Online Security

Another good tip is to look for the https prefix at the start of a website address. This indicates that the website uses SSL encryption. This prevents others from intercepting data that is sent between the website and your browser. You should also be on guard if a website has a padlock icon in its address bar or a warning that appears in your web browser.

Finally, you should make sure that a website is legitimate by checking for a privacy policy that outlines how it protects your personal information. Legitimate sites will usually have a physical address or phone number listed on their contact page, and they won’t bombard you with pop-up windows.