{"id":2043,"date":"2019-04-06T19:33:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=2043"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T17:00:00","slug":"Inaccurate-Warnings-Claim-ALL-'bit.ly'-Links-Are-Suspect-and-Should-not-be-Clicked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/?p=2043","title":{"rendered":"Inaccurate Warnings Claim ALL &#8216;bit.ly&#8217; Links Are Suspect and Should not be Clicked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>This story was first published on April 11, 2011<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Outline:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nVarious messages circulating via social media advise users to never click on bit.ly links because they all point to viruses, rogue applications or malicious websites. Some of the warnings suggest that the inclusion of a &#8220;bit.ly&#8221; link from a friend is an indication that the friend has been &#8220;hacked&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- HS Net Top Content Responsive --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"4870821038\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Brief Analysis:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThese messages are inaccurate and misleading. Bitly is a legitimate and very popular URL shortening service. While spammers and scammers do often use bitly links, it is certainly not true that ALL bitly links are suspect. In fact, every day, the bitly service is used to shorten links that lead to very large numbers of perfectly legitimate websites. Reposting these misleading messages is counterproductive.<\/p>\n<div class=\"example\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><b>Example:<\/b><\/span><br \/>\nAnything that has something like &#8220;bit.ly&#8221; in the link is a virus of some sort! Every time ya see one, mark it as spam, delete it &amp; DONT CLICK ON IT<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"example\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><b>Example:<\/b><\/span><br \/>\nB3war3 Friends..!!Don&#8217;t Click on<\/p>\n<p>=&gt;bit.ly&lt;= &#8230;Link..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"example\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><b>Example:<\/b><\/span><br \/>\nfriends might send you messages in chat with a bit.ly link or post a message with a bit.ly link on your wall. this is a sign that they have been hacked. if you click a bit.ly link, you might get hacked. if you do click a bit.ly link, you should change your password.<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- HSNet Article Center --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\" data-ad-slot=\"5727909035\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>\n<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Detailed Analysis:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThese inaccurate and misleading warnings circulate via social media posts and SMS. The messages advise users that they should <i><b>never<\/b><\/i> click on links that contain &#8220;bit.ly&#8221; because such links <i><b>always<\/b><\/i> lead to viruses, rogue applications or malicious websites. Some of the warnings even suggest that the inclusion of a bitly link in a message is an indication that the sender has been &#8220;hacked&#8221;. The advice is often included as part of warnings about specific malware, rogue apps, or phishing threats. While the overall warnings about these security threats may sometimes be accurate, the claims about bitly links are not.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, <a class=\"norm\" title=\"bit.ly\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/\">bitly<\/a> is a legitimate and very widely used link shortening service. This service, like others of its kind, allows Internet users to create a shorter version of a website link. Such shortened links make it easier for users to include long links in microblogging platforms such as Twitter which only allow a relatively small number of characters per post. They can also be useful for email in situations where an overlong URL may wrap to the next line, thereby &#8220;breaking&#8221; the link so that it will not open the website as intended.<\/p>\n<p>Bitly quite quickly became one of the most popular of the URL shortening services, especially after it began being widely <a class=\"norm\" title=\"URL Shortening Wars: Twitter Ditches TinyURL For bit.ly\" href=\"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2009\/05\/06\/url-shortening-wars-twitter-ditches-tinyurl-for-bitly\/\">used on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Given its popularity, it is true that scammers and spammers regularly use bitly to shorten and disguise links to various malware websites, scam survey sites and rogue Facebook applications. Bitly offers extra features such as the ability to see how many people have clicked on a particular link and other metrics that may be attractive to both scammers and legitimate website operators.<\/p>\n<p>However, just because bitly is sometimes used by criminals certainly does not mean that the service itself is suspect. In fact, many organisations that actively fight against scams, including Australian government <a class=\"norm\" title=\"ScamWatch - Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/SCAMwatch_gov\">anti-scam site ScamWatch<\/a> \u00a0, regularly use bitly links. Bitly links are also used by a great many other organisations that cover a diverse range of subject areas.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, spreading the spurious advice that people should never click on bitly links is counterproductive. People who take this advice may inadvertently miss out on timely information that actually helps them avoid Internet security threats.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, users should be cautious of following unknown links, but this is true of all URL shortening service links &#8211; and links in general &#8211; not just bitly links. Bitly offers <a class=\"norm\" title=\"bit.ly - Browser Extensions\" href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/pages\/tools\">browser extensions<\/a> for the Firefox and Chrome browsers that allow users to review the destinations of shortened links before clicking.<\/p>\n<p>You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/support.bitly.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/230650447-Can-I-preview-a-bitlink-before-clicking-on-it\">preview a bit.ly link by adding a + sign<\/a> to the end of the link in your browser.<\/p>\n<p>If you do encounter a bitl.y link that points to a questionable website, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/support.bitly.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/231247908-I-ve-found-a-bitlink-that-directs-to-spam-what-should-I-do-\">report it to <\/a>bitly.<\/p>\n<p>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Third Content Ad Responsive --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1909104632\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- HS Net Bottom AdLinks --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-0355887770822260\" data-ad-slot=\"1358951439\" data-ad-format=\"link\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/br><\/br> Original Source : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/inaccurate-warnings-claim-all-bit-ly-links-are-suspect-and-should-not-be-clicked\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.hoax-slayer.net\/inaccurate-warnings-claim-all-bit-ly-links-are-suspect-and-should-not-be-clicked\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story was first published on April 11, 2011 Outline: Various messages circulating via social media advise users to never click on bit.ly links because they all point to viruses, rogue applications or malicious websites. Some of the warnings suggest that the inclusion of a &#8220;bit.ly&#8221; link from a friend is an indication that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoax-inggris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.syyhoaxanalyzer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}