A web attack is a method to exploit weaknesses on websites or in portions of it. The attacks may involve the content, web application or server of a site. Websites are a great target for attackers. They can gain unauthorized access to a website, obtain confidential information or create malicious content.
Attackers typically look for weaknesses in a website’s content or structure to take over data, control the website or cause harm to users. Common attacks include brute force attacks (XSS), attacks on uploads of files, and cross-site scripting. Other attacks are carried out using social engineering, like phishing, and malware attacks which include trojans, ransomware or spyware.
The most frequent website attacks focus on the web application that is composed of the software and hardware that websites use to display information to its visitors. Hackers are able to attack the security of a website application by exploiting its flaws, including SQL injection cross-site request forgery and reflection-based XSS.
SQL injection attacks rely on databases that web applications utilize to store and distribute web-based content. These attacks can expose a wealth of sensitive data, especially passwords, account logins and credit card numbers.
Cross-site scripting attacks exploit flaws in the code of a website to display unauthorized images or text, steal session information, and redirect users to phishing websites. Reflective XSS can also allow an attacker to execute any code.
Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when a third party intercepts communications between you and a web server. The attacker can alter messages, spoof certificates or alter DNS responses and the list goes on. This is a highly effective way to manipulate your online activities.