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A old school phish typically involves an Instant Messenger or email message asking you to click a link. This tried and true technique uses bogus links, and this article shows you how to detect them. Newer phishes bite you at a different level. They feed you “good” links but then they cause the good links to turn into bad ones at the network level where you normally don’t go. These phishes will work even if you manually type the good URL into a completely virgin browser. About the only way to be safe from these is to protect your computer overall. The section where I describe bogus URL’s may seem a little long, but consider that it is easier for human brains to spot patterns than it is to talk about them. An accurate and complete description is necessary so your brain can learn what to look for. Don’t sweat it — with just a little practice you’ll be able to sniff a bogus URL in a matter of seconds just like an IT security pro.

• Make sure you are checking the real URL
• How to check a URL
• When “good” URL’s go bad
  

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