bitly blog - Latest Comments in Spam and Malware Protection

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

lehrblogger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:26:28 -0000

This is the text of a standard interstitial warning page that we put up between our bit.ly links and sites that have been flagged as suspicious by a third-party watchdog organization. Do you have a specific question about this page in particular with which we can help you?

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

geraldcastaneda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:51:41 -0000

The content of this web page appears to contain spam, or links to unsolicited or undesired sites.

http://bit.ly/2bGHJW
Source: http://globalcashformula.co...

You can learn more about harmful content at www.StopBadware.org.
You can find out more about phishing from www.antiphishing.org.

Suggestions:
Close your browser window
Notify the sender of the URL
Or you can continue to http://globalcashformula.co... at your own risk.

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

Mike — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:47:07 -0000

I see a lot of those links, too. But, how often do you actually click them? I am guilty of doing a bit of mass following on Twitter, but anytime I see a link get posted that I even mildly suspect i spam or could lead to malware, i just unfollow the person...instantly. Besides, pretty much everyone on Twitter who has a decent amount of followers never bothers to check DMs. They are just a bottomless pit of spam messages.

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

nullstring — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:52:10 -0000

Would it be possible to integrate Google's malware detecting service? Just for an additional security prevention..

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

lehrblogger — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:18:09 -0000

You login is just your bit.ly username, and you can find your API key when you are logged in to your bit.ly account at http://bit.ly/account/your_....

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

my1ststeps — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:05:30 -0000

Twitterfeed asks for the api login and api key. I can't find either one. Please help.

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

lehrblogger — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:03:35 -0000

Hi Eric,

Thanks for posting. At bit.ly we understand the potential security issues that can result from the concealing of a destination URL behind a shortened redirecting URL, and we take the safety of our users very seriously.

We filter all the bit.ly links that are created through several independent services (mentioned above) to check for spam, suspected phishing scams, malware, and other objectionable content. We update this list of blocked sites constantly. When a user clicks on a bit.ly link that we think is potentially unsafe, we display an interstitial warning page (that looks something like http://bit.ly/app/warning?u... so that the user is aware of the risk.

In addiiton, bit.ly recently participated in the 'Month of Twitter Bugs' in which hackers were encouraged to find security vulnerabilities on Twitter and related services. We promptly resolved all of the issues that were brought to our attention and are confident in the security of our site.

Furthermore, bit.ly itself does not host content beyond the small handful of pages on our main site - we simply redirect users to other sites. Your existing virus and spyware protection tools will still function normally. For example, the Firefox web browser will display an interstitial warning page when a user tries to navigate to a site that has been flagged as unsafe regardless of whether or not bit.ly also displayed its own warning page.

As for third-party resources, I think the number and variety of websites and applications using bit.ly as the default URL shortener (including Twitter itself) is a testament to the widespread acceptance of bit.ly as a safe and reliable service.

I hope this clears up any concerns your IT department may have, and you can feel free to either comment here or contact me at steven@bit.ly or support@bit.ly with further questions.

Thanks,
Steven

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

Eric — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:26:21 -0000

Our IT folks have just recently blocked bit.ly, citing "virus and spyware vulnerabilities."

That hinders our ability to track social media regarding our company, particularly via Twitter.

Any suggestions of reputable, third-party resources that would offer substantive arguments that would support that bit.ly is safe?

Our company is a two-state, 2,500-employee operation.

Thanks.

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

toddml — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:50:33 -0000

Hi Joe,

Your link shows up as not found. Are you sure that was the link being passed around?

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

Joe — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:28:38 -0000

Your "service" was used to send me a virus that was propagated to all of my AOL buddies in my buddy list. The link was http://bit.ly/uobt6

Thanks a lot.

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

echeyde — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:36:46 -0000

hi, do you have a plan for an API that would tell if a link is malware or not? This service would be super useful.
Thanks

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

doloresr — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:48:34 -0000

Hello!
I apologize for my poor english.
I write to you because when I try to shorten URLs leave a message as spam.
I believe the problem is that the address is a free web hosting, but I do not spam.
I would appreciate it if you investigate my directions. You can verify that they are not spam
http://retalesdeunavida.com...
http://www.negociosonline.h...
http://misfabulas.host22.com

thank you very much
regards

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

Tsi Dho Nimh — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:11:34 -0000

Because Twitter is such a popular use of bit.ly shortened URLs for spam, why don't upi open an account there so people can just send you a DM with the spammer's tweet?

I get waaaay to many of these: "I make a killing while i sleep thanks to this http://bit.ly/27gift and I tell you how to do it too - for Free"

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

gExLy — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:18:31 -0000

Thank you for developing useful service!
Sometimes it is necessary to remember links. I think it would be easy if they are digital. Is'n it?

Re: Spam and Malware Protection

juegos de rol por turnos — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:57:21 -0000

google chrome has a good malware preventer