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WhatsApp made headlines in the news earlier in the week, but obviously, the favorite messaging app was in the bad light this time around. The report has it that malware are secretly been installed on smartphones via phishing links circulated by scammers on the messaging platform.

The scammers target WhatsApp users by tricking them into revealing personal information on opening an infected link, and such information can be used for nefarious purposes.

Some unsuspecting users are automatically redirected to a bogus website on clicking the phishing links, others are not so lucky, as they end up installing viruses on their device.

To avoid phishing scams, it is always advised to go directly to the website you want to visit rather than clicking on a link.

What can your browser do for you as regards detecting phishing links?

As phishing scams are imitations of the original emails and websites from actual companies, and may look exactly like what you'd expect, the site can't have the same URL as the original website they're pretending to represent.

So, always check the URL before clicking by hovering the cursor on the link, which will display the actual URL you're visiting.

While most modern browsers come with built-in phishing protection, it isn't always enabled by default, so you'll need to activate it. Google keeps track of common phishing sites and can alert you when you visit one, but you may need to go through Chrome setup process to make it work. And Mozilla also offers phishing and malware protection in a similar way, and you can enable it in the Security section of Firefox's preferences.

Also note that the above tips can help protect you from phishing scams as it'll become more of the habit of visiting sites directly rather than clicking links.

Malware Check: How Phishing links can be detected on WhatsApp

WhatsApp made headlines in the news earlier in the week, but obviously, the favorite messaging app was in the bad light this time around. The report has it that malware are secretly been installed on smartphones via phishing links circulated by scammers on the messaging platform.

The scammers target WhatsApp users by tricking them into revealing personal information on opening an infected link, and such information can be used for nefarious purposes.

Some unsuspecting users are automatically redirected to a bogus website on clicking the phishing links, others are not so lucky, as they end up installing viruses on their device.

To avoid phishing scams, it is always advised to go directly to the website you want to visit rather than clicking on a link.

What can your browser do for you as regards detecting phishing links?

As phishing scams are imitations of the original emails and websites from actual companies, and may look exactly like what you'd expect, the site can't have the same URL as the original website they're pretending to represent.

So, always check the URL before clicking by hovering the cursor on the link, which will display the actual URL you're visiting.

While most modern browsers come with built-in phishing protection, it isn't always enabled by default, so you'll need to activate it. Google keeps track of common phishing sites and can alert you when you visit one, but you may need to go through Chrome setup process to make it work. And Mozilla also offers phishing and malware protection in a similar way, and you can enable it in the Security section of Firefox's preferences.

Also note that the above tips can help protect you from phishing scams as it'll become more of the habit of visiting sites directly rather than clicking links.
Online Security