The exact number of websites keep changing, it is estimated that 547,200 websites are created everyday. Every website has its own URL which means URLs have a big role to play in the evolving digital story.
URL stands for uniform resource locator and is the location of a specific website, page or file on the internet. Along the line someone came up with the idea to create a service which could shorten very long URLs so users can easily type or remember them. After this several other features like tracking and analytics got added.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals now use this service to obfuscate redirects to malicious destinations. For instance, URL shorteners have been used by spammers to evade filters, to hide domains that contain malware and to aid phishing by making the shortened link look similar to the brand being impersonated.
We advise that you treat every shortened URL as suspicious until you can you can determine what the long url is, without clicking it. Below is a video by our founder that explains how you can do this.