Fake News: URL Checking

• Everything that occurs before the last dot . is the second level domain (SLD), everything that occurs after the last dot . is the top level domain (TLD)
• In this example, www and hvcc are part of the second level domain and edu is the top level domain
• Well-known TLDs are .edu, .gov, .org, and .com

Now let's examine the domain part of the URL

Let's forget about the protocol and path and focus on the domain [underlined in green in the example]

• Everything before the last dot . in the domain is the second level domain (SLD) [yellow in example]
• The top level domain (TLD) [orange in example] comes after the last dot . in the domain

Now lets look at the domain of a well-known news company's website compared to an imitation fake news website's domain

Domain of a REAL News Website

• .com is the top level domain (TLD) of this real news site

Domain of a FAKE News Website

The fake news site tries to be tricky with .com.co, but the .com is really just part of the second level domain

• .co is the top level domain (TLD) of this fake news site
  • Remember everything before the last dot . in the domain is part of the SLD!