How secure the personal links are that the public post here on YA?

Many times I read question ans answers and often askers and repliers post personal links for us to look at or to give suggestions/opinions.



I would like to know how secure are they for us not to catch virus from those links/files? Mind you, I am talking about personal links.

Don't trust them, basic internet security.

Assume they are hostile, unless you recognize that the site is legitimate (ie. microsoft.com). That said, you'll be fine assuming that you use a secure browser (ie. an up-to-date copy of Firefox), use a firewall, have an anti-virus program running that scans all Internet traffic, and don't download any executable.

Is this what you are talking about - the Questions where people are asking "Do you think I look good in this picture" and so on.

Look at the URL - if it is on Flickr, it is probably ok. Flickr is part of Yahoo.

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Other sites - if I don't recognize them as safe, I tell myself, don't get involved, and click out of that question. It's better to find other questions to answer.

TonyRB
Tuesday, January 5, 2010