Somewhere on this site I read that I should connect to websites by entering the URL myself or using a bookmark when security is critical. I started wondering why that didn't include browsing history. Of course it is true that my browsing history might have some mistyped URLs in it, whether entered by me or by people I trust enough to let them use my browser without my supervision. And my favorites/bookmarks are less likely to include such. But supposing I'm confident no one besides me has touched my computer ever and that I'm confident I have no dangerous typos in my history, are there any reasons to think my browsing history is a less secure URL storage than my bookmarks? Does it depend on the browser I use? The browser's version?
1 Answer
The advice is usually in the context of avoiding phishing links:
Don't click on links in emails! Bookmark your banking websites and always use the bookmark!
I think using browsing history as a similar safeguard is probably fine also (within the parameters you described), as long as you've never clicked on a malicious link in the past.
However, it's probably not widely mentioned because:
- Browser history will often have many entries for a single website because of all the individual pages on that site that you've visited
- Browser history should be viewed as temporary. It can be easily cleared deliberately or accidentally. Bookmarks are much more permanent.
answered Apr 9, 2014 at 12:35
