Word of the Day: URL shortening

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |September 25, 2017

URL shortening URL shortening is the translation of a long Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into an abbreviated alternative that redirects to the longer URL. The original URL shortening service was TinyURL, which was launched in 2002 by Kevin Gilbertson to make links easier on his unicyclist site to share, and remains popular today. Other commonly used URL shorteners include bitly, goo.gl (Google) and x.co (GoDaddy). Short URLs are preferable for a number of reasons. Long URLs in text can make the accompanying message difficult to read and break if they fail to wrap properly. Although most email clients can now correctly handle long URLs, the use and popularity of shortening URLs have increased because of mobile messaging and social media websites, especially Twitter which has a 140-character constraint. Although URL services often provide users with handy features such as the ability to customize shortened URLs and track traffic, some security analysts warn that the use of third-party services is simply the addition of another attack vector. Many services are free and offer no service level agreement, which means the user must trust the service's ability to keep its servers secure.   Additionally, shortened links offer the user no clue as to where they lead and can be used to misdirect users to infected content. To compensate, some services allow the user to add a special character at the end of the shortened URL. The addition of the special character allows the person to hover over the link and preview the page it is pointing to.   Reliability and availability are two more concerns. Even if a service guarantees 99% uptime, there will still be 3.5 days per year when its shortened links won't work.  And as some users have found to their dismay, shortened links may no longer work if the service goes out of business. Quote of the Day "The current issues around URL-shortening security represent a more significant flaw in the design of these URL-shortening services altogether." - Dave Shackleford   Trending Terms vanity URL Bitly bookmarklet static URL dark social   Learning Center Are long URLs better for security than short URLs? Long URLs that contain over 100 characters are the best bet when it comes to security. Here's a look at why that's the case and what's wrong with short URLs. The security risks of URL-shortening services for enterprises URL-shortening services might do more harm than good to enterprises due to a significant flaw in the design. Here's how to mitigate the risks. How can shortened URLs carrying malicious links be detected? Expert Nick Lewis explains how to detect and mitigate the risk of malicious links in shortened URLs to avoid organizations from becoming compromised. Safely using shortened URLs requires user education, technology Expert Nick Lewis discusses statistics provided by Web of Trust researchers on the potential threat posed by shortened URLs and how enterprises can protect users. URL shortening security best practices Does your enterprise use some form of social networking? Learn about the risks of shorted URLS and URL shortening security best practices from expert Michael Cobb. Quiz Yourself This is website content that is designed to be easy for readers to consume and to share. a. snackable content b. newsjacking Answer   Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2016 TechTarget. All rights reserved.