Semalt Expert: The Most Common Ways Hackers Use To Attack A Site

Hacking is a threat facing small and big businesses alike. In fact, big corporations like Microsoft, NBC, Twitter, Facebook, Drupal, and ZenDesk have recently had their websites hacked into. Whether these cyber criminals wish to steal private data, shut down your PC or take over the control of your website, one thing remains clear; they interfere with businesses.

Artem Abgarian, the Semalt Senior Customer Success Manager, offers to consider the following tricks a hacker can use to infiltrate into your websites/system.

1. An Injection Attack

This attack occurs when there is a flaw in your SQL Library, SQL Database or even the OS itself. Your team of employees open what passes as credible files but unknown to them, the files have hidden commands (injections). By doing so, they allow the hack to gain unauthorized access to confidential data such as credit card details, bank accounts, social security number, etc.

2. A Cross Site Scripting Attack

XSS attacks occur when a file packet, application or a URL 'get request' is sent to the browser's window. Note that during the attack, the weapon (could be any of the three mentioned) bypasses the validation process. As a result, the user is deceived into thinking that they are working on a legitimate web page.

3. Broken Authentication & Session Management Attack

In this case, the hacker tries to capitalize on a weak user authentication system. This system involves user passwords, session ids, key management and browser cookies. If there is a loophole somewhere, hackers can access your user account from a remote location then they log in using your credentials.

4. The Clickjack Attack

Clickjacking (or the UI-Redress Attack) occurs when hackers use multiple, opaque layers to trick the user into clicking the top layer without suspecting a thing. In this case, the hacker 'hijacks' clicks that were meant for your web page. For instance, by carefully combining iframes, text boxes and stylesheets, a hacker will lead the user into thinking that they're logging into their account, but in actual sense, that's an invisible frame being controlled by somebody with an ulterior motive.

5. DNS Spoofing

Did you know that old cache data that you've forgotten about can come and haunt you? Well, a hacker can identify a vulnerability in the domain name system that allows them to divert traffic from a legit server to dummy website or server. These attacks replicate and spread themselves from one DNS server to another, spoofing anything on its path.

6. Social Engineering Attack

Technically, this is not hacking per se. In this case, you give confidential information in good faith say over a web chat, email, social media or through any online interaction. However, this is where a problem comes in; what you thought was a legit service provider turns out to be a ploy. A good example would be the "Microsoft Technical Support" scam.

7. SYMlinking (an inside attack)

Symlinks are special files that "point to" a hard link abreast a mounted file system. Here, the hacker strategically positions the symlink such that the application or user accessing the endpoint assumes they are accessing the correct file. These modifications corrupt, overwrite, append or change file permissions.

8. Cross-Site Request Attack

These attacks happen when the user is logged into their account. A hacker from a remote location may seize this opportunity to send you a forged HTTP request. This is meant to collect your cookie info. This cookie data remains valid if you stay logged in. To be safe, always log out of your accounts when done with them.

9. The Remote Code Execution Attack

This exploits weaknesses on your server. Culpable components like remote directories, frameworks, libraries as well as other software modules running on the user-authentication basis are targeted by malware, scripts and command lines.

10. DDOS Attack

A distributed denial of service attack (abbreviated as DDOS), occurs when the machine's or server's services are denied to you. Now when you are offline, the hackers tinker with the website or a specific function. The aim of this attack is this: interrupt or take over a running system.