Over the past decade, millions of businesses have embraced web applications as an inexpensive way to build relationships and hacking the internet transactions with prospects and customers. But while they provide the opportunity for greater customer insight and efficiency, web applications also have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals. One of the most common and devastating of these is a web attack.
A web attack is one type of cyberattack, where the attacker assumes the identity of someone else to access sensitive information or do criminal activities, such as the theft of credit card numbers and other personal information. Web attacks are often characterized by SQLi (Structured Query Language Injection), XSS (cross-site scripting) and file upload attack.
In a SQLi attack hackers enter customized Structured Query Language commands into an app or website field to steal private data stored on the database server behind. In an XSS attack hackers insert malicious code into websites or web apps that the victim’s browser executes without validation or encryption. The attack can steal session information, display unauthorised text or images, or redirect the victim to a fraudulent website.
The best way to protect against an attack on your website is to run regular vulnerability scans and apply patches to your website and its web servers and any databases underneath. It is also a good idea to create an incident response plan in order that should an attack occur, it can be quickly detected and dealt with. Additionally, you should are aware of how to spot a web attack through warning indications such as slowing down of the network or intermittent shutdowns of websites.