🔍 How To Use the URL Security Scanner

Last updated: April 4, 2026

The URL Security Scanner (USS) is a free tool that checks any website against multiple cybersecurity intelligence sources simultaneously — giving you a comprehensive threat assessment in seconds. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use it and how to interpret your results.

Step 1 — Enter a URL and Run the Scan

1. Navigate to urlcybersecurity.com.
2. Type or paste any full URL into the search box (e.g., https://google.com or just google.com).
3. Complete the security verification if prompted.
4. Click Scan URL. Results appear within a few seconds.

💡 Tip: You can scan any URL — websites, online stores, links received in emails or text messages — before clicking them.

Step 2 — Understanding the Scan Results

Your report is broken into four sections, each powered by a different industry-standard threat intelligence source.

🔍 VirusTotal Reputation Report

VirusTotal aggregates data from 90+ antivirus engines and security vendors to check whether a URL or domain has been flagged as malicious.

Result	What It Means
Malicious	One or more security engines flagged the URL as a confirmed threat (malware, phishing, etc.).
Suspicious	The URL exhibits unusual behavior that warrants caution, but is not fully confirmed.
Undetected	The URL was scanned but no engine flagged it. This is neutral — not a clean confirmation.
Harmless	The engine actively confirmed the URL is safe and clean.
Timeout	The engine did not return a result within the allowed time.

💡 A high number of Harmless detections combined with zero Malicious results is the best outcome. Even trusted domains like google.com show some Undetected results, which is normal.

🌐 URLScan.io Report

URLScan.io takes a live screenshot and performs a deep behavioral inspection of the target URL, checking for phishing indicators, malicious redirects, and suspicious page behavior.

Scan ID / Report Link — Click to view the full URLScan.io report, including a screenshot and all network requests made by the page.
Scan Status — None indicates no threats were found in URLScan's database for that URL.

🛢 IPQS (IPQualityScore) Scan Results

IPQS is a leading fraud and phishing detection API. It checks the URL against a real-time database of known threats and calculates a Risk Score from 0 to 100.

Field	What It Means
Risk Score	0–25: Low risk. 26–75: Moderate caution. 76–100: High risk — avoid this URL.
Unsafe	IPQS has actively confirmed the URL as dangerous to visit.
Phishing	The URL is designed to steal credentials or personal information.
Malware	The page distributes malicious software.
Spamming	The domain is associated with unsolicited or bulk email campaigns.
Domain Rank	Lower numbers = more popular and established (Rank 1 = google.com). Higher numbers or "0" indicates a low-traffic or unknown domain.
Domain Age	Newly registered domains (under 6 months) carry a higher inherent risk score.
DNS Valid	Confirms the domain resolves to a real IP address.
Parking	The domain is not hosting a real website — commonly seen with squatted or abandoned domains.

🔒 ImmuniWeb Website Security Grade

ImmuniWeb analyzes the security posture of the website itself — its SSL/TLS configuration, HTTP security headers, Content Security Policy, WAF protection, and compliance with PCI DSS and GDPR standards.

Grade	Score Range	Meaning
A / A+	85–100	Excellent security configuration.
B / C	50–84	Acceptable but has notable weaknesses.
D / F	0–49	Serious security misconfigurations present.

WAF Protection — Whether a Web Application Firewall is actively protecting the site.
PCI DSS Compliance — Required for websites that handle credit card payments.
GDPR Compliance — Required for websites serving EU users under data protection law.
HTTP Header Issues — Missing or misconfigured security headers such as Strict-Transport-Security or X-Frame-Options.
CSP Issues — Problems with the Content Security Policy, which defends against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

Step 3 — Reading a Sample Report

📄 Example: google.com scan results

VirusTotal URLScan.io IPQS ImmuniWeb

Source	Result	Interpretation
VirusTotal	0 Malicious, 71 Harmless	Globally trusted. Zero threats detected across 96+ engines.
URLScan.io	No threats found	No phishing indicators, no malicious redirects.
IPQS Risk Score	0 / 100	No risk detected. Domain rank: 1. Age: 27 years.
ImmuniWeb	Grade A	Strong security headers, WAF active, GDPR compliant.

✅ Conclusion: google.com is a globally trusted domain. No security vendors detected malware, phishing, or suspicious behavior. All scans confirm the domain is safe and clean.

Step 4 — What To Do If a URL Is Flagged

Do not visit the URL if VirusTotal shows Malicious detections or IPQS Risk Score is above 75.
Report phishing to Google Safe Browsing at safebrowsing.google.com.
Check with your IT team if the URL was received via corporate email — it may be a targeted spear-phishing attempt.
Scan email links before clicking — especially from unknown senders or unexpected sources.

💡 Note: A newly registered domain (under 6 months old) may show a higher IPQS risk score even if it is a legitimate website. Always consider multiple signals together rather than a single score in isolation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this tool free?

Yes. The URL Security Scanner is completely free to use with no registration required.

Does scanning a URL alert the website owner?

Queries to VirusTotal, IPQS, and ImmuniWeb are passive lookups against existing databases. URLScan.io may make a live visit to the page as part of its analysis.

Can I scan an IP address instead of a domain?

Yes. Enter the IP address directly into the scanner — all four intelligence sources support IP-based lookups.

Why might a legitimate site show a high IPQS risk score?

Newly registered domains (under 6 months old) automatically receive a higher risk score due to the high prevalence of phishing on new domains. This does not necessarily mean the site is malicious — review the other scan sources together for a complete picture.