Malwarebytes Introduces Free Scam Link Check Tool to Vet Suspicious URLs
What Happened — Malwarebytes launched a free web‑based “Scam Link Check” that lets anyone paste a URL and receive an instant safety verdict (safe, dangerous, unknown) plus a screenshot, rationale, and remediation steps. The service draws on Malwarebytes’ threat‑intelligence ecosystem to flag phishing pages, counterfeit stores, malicious ads, newly registered domains and hidden redirect chains.
Why It Matters for Trust & Control Assurance
- Demonstrates a practical control for the user awareness & phishing‑defense objective that continuous‑monitoring programs aim to enforce.
- Provides auditable evidence (verdict logs, screenshots, reason codes) that can be collected as part of a defensible phishing‑simulation or safe‑browsing policy audit.
- Aligns with the SECURITY_AWARENESS capability, helping organizations prove they have a documented, repeatable process for evaluating suspicious links before end‑users click.
Who Is Affected – All sectors that rely on email, messaging or social media for business communications, especially finance, retail, and SaaS providers that face high phishing‑risk volumes.
Recommended Actions –
- Incorporate the Scam Link Check (or a comparable safe‑browsing service) into your phishing‑awareness workflow and log each verdict as evidence of due diligence.
- Map the “URL safety verification” activity to your control‑assessment framework (e.g., NIST CSF Identify > PR.AT‑1) and capture screenshots for audit readiness.
- Educate users on the new tool and embed the link in internal security portals or ticketing systems.
Technical Notes – The tool performs deep URL analysis, including domain age, redirect chain inspection, and comparison against Malwarebytes’ continuously updated malicious‑site feeds. No software install is required; it operates entirely in the browser. Source: Help Net Security article