How Uplifter Handles Link Security

Phishing emails and malicious links are among the top security challenges facing modern organizations. These messages often appear legitimate but contain links that redirect users to spoofed sites designed to capture credentials or install malware.

While no platform can eliminate all such risks, Uplifter incorporates several best practices to help reduce the threat surface, especially around vanity links, deep links, and link security.

Are Short Links a Phishing Risk?

Short links are not inherently more dangerous than direct URLs. In fact, with proper controls and branding, they can be just as secure and often more user-friendly.

Uplifter automatically applies several layers of protection to all links created within the platform:

• HTTPS by Default: All Uplifter links use HTTPS, ensuring data is encrypted in transit. HTTP-only links allow attackers to intercept and manipulate the destination.
• Admin-Controlled Link Creation: Only authorized admin users in your Uplifter workspace can create short or vanity links, preventing unauthorized or rogue link generation.
• No PII in URLs: We strongly recommend that short links do not contain personally identifiable or sensitive information. This aligns with analytics platform standards and reduces data exposure risk.
• Bot-Resistant Redirects: Uplifter uses a redirection method that allows automated link checkers (like those in Outlook or social media platforms) to scan the destination site rather than the redirection website itself, reducing false flags and ensuring more accurate scanning.

Branded Short Links

Using branded domains like yourcompany.link adds a critical layer of trust for users. Branded links are easier to verify, more clickable, and reinforce your brand identity. For many clients, we recommend using a subdomain of your main website (e.g., go.yourcompany.com) as the redirect domain. This not only builds trust but also allows the domain to fall under your existing DNS and security policies.

• Brand Affiliation: Users are more likely to trust links that clearly originate from your organization. You can further reinforce this by documenting your link policy on your website (e.g. “All official links come from yourcompany.link”).
• Domain Ownership: You can verify and prove ownership of your branded domain, which adds credibility and prevents impersonation.
• Link Isolation: Branded domains in Uplifter are completely isolated at the database level. No other Uplifter client can generate links on your domain. This is enforced through both technical separation and permission checks.
• Audit Logs: Uplifter retains a complete, immutable audit trail for each link, recording who created or modified it, and when. Links are never deleted: only archived for historical access and compliance.

Default Uplifter Domain: upl.inc

For enterprise clients without a branded domain, Uplifter provides access to upl.inc, a default short link domain managed by our team.

• Reputation Monitoring: We continuously monitor upl.inc against well-known domain reputation services like Spamhaus, helping ensure it stays trusted by spam filters and inbox scanners.

Deep Links and App Journeys

Uplifter supports deep links that integrate seamlessly with Apple Universal Links and Android App Links, allowing users to open your app directly or follow a safe fallback journey (like downloading the app or opening a browser page).

• Trusted Redirect Domain: The deep link redirect domain must be explicitly authorized using official platform mechanisms. This involves placing domain verification files and establishing trust between your app and our redirection service.
• Controlled Redirection Logic: Redirection behavior is defined and controlled within your Uplifter workspace. This ensures that only approved journeys are executed.

Conclusion

Security is a shared responsibility. At Uplifter, we design our link management tools to be secure by default, but organizations should still follow best practices: educate users, use branded links, monitor activity, and avoid embedding sensitive information in URLs.

Vanity and deep links can be incredibly powerful when implemented safely. With Uplifter, you get full control, transparency, and the tools needed to maintain user trust.