Why defang?

In simple terms, URL defanging is a standard term for making URLs (links) non-clickable.

This practice prevents users from accidentally clicking on links and therefore interacting with potenitally malicious websites and resources.

Defanging is done by replacing certain characters in URIs (Uniform Resource Identifier) and IP addreses such as:

• http:// > hxxp://
• https:// > hxxps://
• email@address.com > email@address[.]com
• 192.168.1.1 > 192[.]168[.]1[.]1

In the field of cyber security, Indicators of Compromise (IoC) are artefacts observed on a network/device that indicate confirmed or probable unauthorized access to a system. It is a common and best practice to disarm or defang IOCs when storing them or sharing with others.

Bonus tip: URL defanging is also one of the common interview questions for cyber security and coding professional jobs.

Regardless of what brought you here, no prior knowledge of defanging or perhaps you've got tons of IOCs to defang, now there is an easy tool that you can use to defang your IOCs.

Open IOC defang tool