[Ipg-smz] The use of URL Shorteners violates security principles

[Ken Gagne]

I use URL shorteners for a few reasons. A short link:

 * is easier to remember and type, without having to look up the
   original, long link.
 * is easier for someone to use if seeing it in a presentation or a
   hardcopy handout.
 * takes up less space in print.
 * is better branding.
However, I create my short links with YOURLS[1], an open-source URL
shortener that you install on your own domain — no integration with (or
dependency on) bit.ly, ow.ly, or other third-party services. Some
examples of links I've created in it:
 * gamebits.tv/dox: my Computerworld article about removing your profile
   from data brokers.
 * kgagne.com/moo: my referral code for Moo.com.
I also used YOURLS to create a2.click, a URL shortener with a frontend
that anyone can use — but only if the submitted URLs match my domain
whitelist.
-Ken

On Mon, Oct 8, 2018, at 12:43 PM, Esther Schindler wrote:
> Are they still a thing? 
> 
> I used to use them because they provided some level of tracking click
> throughs. That went away.> 
> I also used to use them back when Twitter counted all the characters
> in a URL as part of its 140. That went away too.> 
> I’m not sure when/why anyone wants to use these any more… even before
> the security vulnerabilites.> 
>> On Oct 8, 2018, at 9:04 AM, Tom Henderson
>> <thenderson at extremelabs.com> wrote:>> 
>> I can give you a long list of ow.ly[2] shortened URLs that will give
>> you a malware dose the size of Cincinnati.>> 
>> ONE SINGLE MISTYPED character will send a user into plain hell.
> 
> --
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> Ipg-smz at netpress.org
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Links:

  1. https://yourls.org/
  2. http://ow.ly/
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