A web attack is an attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in a website, or parts of it. The attacks could involve the content, web application or server of a site. Websites offer many opportunities for neoerudition.net/5-cybersecurity-protocols-that-your-cybersecurity-engineer-should-apply attackers to gain unauthorised access, steal private information, or even introduce malicious content.

Attackers look for weaknesses in the content or structure of a website in order to get access to data, control of it, or even harm users. Common attacks include brute force attacks (XSS) and attacks on uploads of files, and cross-site scripting. Other attacks are possible through social engineering, such as phishing, or malware attacks like ransomware, trojans, worms or spyware.

The most common attacks on websites are targeted at the web application, that is composed of the hardware and software that a website uses to show information to its visitors. Hackers are able to attack websites through flaws. These include SQL injection, cross-site request forgery, and reflection-based XSS.

SQL injection attacks target databases that web applications depend on to store and deliver content. These attacks can expose sensitive information such as passwords, account logins, and credit card numbers.

Cross-site scripting attacks are based on the flaws within a website’s code to display images or text, hijack session details, and redirect visitors to phishing websites. Reflective XSS allows an attacker to execute an arbitrary program.

Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when a third party intercepts the communications between you and your web server. The third party could alter messages, spoof certificate, alter DNS responses, and others. This is a method to influence online activities.