Without a doubt, Bit.ly is the biggest URL shortener service out there. And without question, what made them so popular is this one social network called… mmm..
what is it called again?.. Oh yeah, TWITTER.
Users who like to share links can really use services such as Bit.ly so that they can keep their messages under the 140 character limit. So it’s good news to know that Bit.ly just announced (on Monday) their new partnerships with Verisign, Websense and Sophos.
The goal of these new partners is to ensure that spam and other types of malicious software stay off the Bit.ly network. The presence of spammy and malicious links is a major problem that Bit.ly is hoping to solve. That grey area of not knowing where you’ll end up after clicking on a link shared through Twitter is just where spammers, phishers and scammers like to be.
Bit.ly’s new parterns are planning to solve that problem in three different ways:
- Verisign’s iDefense service will screen IP addresses, domains and URLs based on its reputation database, to find those that “host exploits, malicious code, command and control servers, drop sites and other nefarious activity,” according to Bit.ly general manager Andrew Cohen.
- WebSense’s ThreatSeeker Cloud will analyze the content on pages linked to through Bit.ly in real-time to identify and block “spammy URLs, malicious content and phishing sites.”
- Meanwhile, Sophos rounds out the equation by analyzing the behavior of potential spammers to “go[] beyond blacklists, to proactively detect spam and malware.”
All I can say is YAY! 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve used their service and it’s awesome. Also great for hiding the original URL as well
Hello. Post very useful. But can you explain more clearly?..i’m french
URL Shorteners is a really effective tool used to actually hide the original URL. I have used this facility and really work well for website.
As much as I can understand right now, I think you’re right!