In response to the escalating sophistication of online phishing attempts, NordVPN has unveiled its latest offering — Link Checker — a tool to check malicious websites.
Positioned as a manual URL-checking tool, this experimental product aims to empower users to assess a website’s safety before visiting it, providing an additional layer of defence against evolving cyber threats.
Vykintas Maknickas, the Head of Product Strategy at NordVPN, emphasised the challenges users face in identifying malicious websites with traditional methods. “Malicious websites are becoming harder to spot with the naked eye. Well-known typography tricks, such as replacing ‘Amazon’ with ‘Arnason’ in a URL, which has worked for well-known domains, have now been upgraded to suspicious elements hidden under a URL shortener, often making phishing websites look legit. Link Checker is a response to the growing scale and intricacy of phishing attempts online,” said Maknickas.
The primary objective of Link Checker is to enable users to scrutinise website domains and receive notifications regarding potential threats. The tool employs NordVPN’s proprietary machine-learning model, designed to detect zero-day phishing patterns embedded within websites.
“Among the biggest advantages of the Link Checker is its two-fold nature. Combining proprietary machine learning techniques with the Nord Security Intelligence Database, Link Checker offers one of the most inclusive data sources to detect harmful URLs,” said Maknickas. “In fact, Link Checker incorporates information on 95% of the most popular domains mimicked by cybercriminals, who often use phoney variations to disguise online scams or malware.”
Additionally, it leverages Nord’s Intelligence Database to identify deceptive websites intending to lure users into phishing scams.
The tool is designed to help users avoid driving-by download attacks, where clicking on a malicious URL could lead to malware infiltration or compromise sensitive data.
NordVPN has positioned Link Checker as an everyday tool accessible to businesses and individuals. Notably, it is free and does not necessitate the creation of a special account or enrollment in a subscription.
The tool is compatible with all browsers and devices, making it a versatile solution for users across different platforms.
This is the second experimental tool launched by the company. In September, NordVPN introduced its initial experimental project, Sonar, an AI-enabled browser extension designed to assist users in detecting phishing emails and fortifying themselves against cybercrime.
In December 2023, NordVPN entered the cyber insurance market with integrated benefits.
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