What Is Web Attack and How Does It Affect Your Business?

Over the past neoerudition.net/ decade over the past decade, millions of businesses and organizations have embraced the Web as a cheap way to connect with customers and conduct business. This includes the use of web-based apps that collect and store data, including customer information submitted via content management systems shopping carts inquiry or submit forms and login fields.

These applications are usually accessed via the Internet and are able to be hacked in order to exploit weaknesses within the application or supporting infrastructure. SQL injection attacks which exploit weaknesses within databases, can compromise databases that contain sensitive information. Attackers can also exploit an advantage gained by breaching a Web application to identify and access other, more vulnerable systems on your network.

Other commonly used Web attacks include Cross Site Scripting attacks (XSS) that exploit weaknesses in the web server to inject malicious code into web pages, which executes as a virus-infected script within the victim’s browser. This allows attackers obtain confidential information or to redirect users to sites that offer phishing. XSS attacks are prevalent on message boards, blogs and web forums.

Distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) comprise hackers banding together to bombard a site with more requests than it can handle. This could cause the page to slow or completely shut down that compromises the ability of the site to process requests and make it unusable for all users. DDoS attacks can be devastating to small businesses, such as local bakeries or restaurants that depend on their website for operations.