In the movies, hacking is like fast keyboard typing and hitting the Enter but in the real world, hackers find and exploit vulnerabilities to hack websites.
In this article we’re going to review common methods hackers use. You might also be interested in why hackers hack websites.
What is a web vulnerability?
A web vulnerability is a weakness in a website or web application that can be exploited by an attacker to gain unauthorized access or perform malicious actions. These vulnerabilities can occur in the website’s code, server configuration, or other components of the web application.
Some examples of common web vulnerabilities include:
- SQL injection: a vulnerability that occurs when a website does not properly validate user input and allows an attacker to inject malicious code into the website’s database.
- Cross-site scripting (XSS): a vulnerability that allows an attacker to inject malicious code into a website, which is then executed by the browser.
- Cross-site request forgery (CSRF): a vulnerability that allows an attacker to trick a user into performing actions on a website without their knowledge or consent.
- File inclusion vulnerabilities: a vulnerability that allows an attacker to include a file on the web server, typically through a script or a form field.
- Insecure Direct Object Reference: a vulnerability that allows an attacker to directly reference an object, such as a file or a database record, using a direct URL or a form field.
- Insecure Cryptographic Storage: a vulnerability that allows an attacker to obtain sensitive information by exploiting weaknesses in the way the website stores cryptographic data.
- Insecure Communication: a vulnerability that allows an attacker to intercept or modify the communication between the website and the user.
These are just a few examples of the many types of web vulnerabilities that exist. It is important for website owners and developers to keep their software and security measures up-to-date, validate user input, and use secure coding practices to prevent web vulnerabilities and protect their websites from attacks.
Common vulnerabilities hackers use for hacking websites
Hackers commonly use a variety of web vulnerabilities to hack websites, some of the most common ones include:
SQL Injection
This is a type of attack where a hacker injects malicious code into a website’s database, allowing them to access sensitive information such as login credentials and personal data. This type of attack is often the result of poor website security practices, such as failing to properly validate user input or not using prepared statements to handle SQL queries.
Passwords
You log in to your website using a password, so do hackers! Choose an easy password to make it easy for hackers to break into your website. Hackers use methods like password guessing, brute force, and phishing to find passwords and break into any website.
Protect your secrets carefully to stop hackers.
Known Vulnerabilities
Using an outdated WordPress plugin can let a hacker get into your website. Every day many vulnerabilities in popular web softwares are found and reported by security researchers. Once a vulnerability is reported hackers start finding vulnerable targets to exploit and hack for their purpose.
It’s crucial to use the latest version of any software and install security updates as soon as possible.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
XSS doesn’t allow hackers to access your website directly but hackers can manipulate what is presented on your website using this vulnerability.
Cross Site Scripting is a dangerous vulnerability because hackers can control the browser of your website visitors and eventually gain access to your website by stealing your browser Cookie containing the access token to the website.
Broken Access Control
What would happen if you have no authentication for the administration panel of your website? Your website will get hacked. This is one example of broken access control over the administration panel.
The access control can be broken in any sensitive functionalities like sending posts, uploading files, updating profile, etc. Broken access control is like an open door to your website for hackers.
Injection Vulnerabilities
Web applications rely on executing commands for performing different actions like displaying your website items, searching, login, and other tasks. If these commands are build using user-supplied input, the web application might be vulnerable to injection attacks.
There many different types of injection vulnerabilities. Some of the more common injections are SQL, NoSQL, OS command, Object Relational Mapping (ORM), LDAP, and Expression Language (EL) or Object Graph Navigation Library (OGNL) injection. Hacker uses these vulnerabilities to inject their commands to your website and hack it.
Path Traversals
Hackers try to access files and directories outside of your website root folder. They try to inject dot-dot-slash (../)” sequences and their variations or absolute file paths wherever possible to access sensitive files like application source code and OS files to take over your website.
File Inclusion Vulnerabilities
This type of vulnerability allows an attacker to include a file on the web server, typically through a script or a form field. This can lead to remote code execution, data exfiltration or other malicious actions.
Inadequate Session and Cookie Management
This type of vulnerability allows an attacker to steal user’s session cookies by exploiting weaknesses in the way the website manages sessions and cookies.
Insecure Cryptographic Storage
This type of vulnerability allows an attacker to obtain sensitive information by exploiting weaknesses in the way the website stores cryptographic data.
Other Issues
There are many other ways to hack a website. For example, hacking the FTP server might end up hacking your whole website. Or, Hacking one website on a shared host can give access to other websites on that host. Also, the combination of two or more vulnerabilities can create a back door to your website.
Some other vulnerabilities for hacking websites are Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF), having debug/sample codes on your website, leaving backup files under the web root, displaying detailed error messages, etc.
To keep your website secure, you should test your website for possible vulnerabilities and fix any issues.
It is important to note that the list is not exhaustive and new types of vulnerabilities can appear as the technology evolves. Website owners and developers should keep their software and security measures up-to-date, validate user input, and use secure coding practices to prevent these types of vulnerabilities and protect their websites from attacks.
How to protect your website against hackers
There are several steps website owners and developers can take to protect their websites against hackers:
- Keep software and security measures up-to-date: This includes updating web applications and server software, as well as any security plugins or modules.
- Validate user input: This includes using prepared statements to handle SQL queries, sanitizing user input, and using input validation libraries to prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
- Use secure coding practices: This includes using secure random number generators, encrypting sensitive data, and using proper session and cookie management techniques.
- Use a web application firewall (WAF): A WAF can help protect your website from common web attacks by monitoring and filtering incoming traffic.
- Use HTTPS: HTTPS encrypts the communication between your website and the user, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept or modify the data.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs can help protect your website from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by distributing traffic across multiple servers.
- Regularly back up your website: This will allow you to quickly restore your website if it is hacked or otherwise compromised.
- Monitor your website for suspicious activity: Regularly monitor your website’s log files and use security tools to detect suspicious activity, such as failed login attempts or unusual traffic patterns.
- Educate yourself and your team: Stay informed about the latest security threats and best practices by reading security blogs and attending security conferences.
- Have a incident response plan: Having an incident response plan in place can help you respond quickly and effectively to a security incident, minimizing the damage and minimizing the recovery time.
It’s important to note that no website can be 100% secure and it’s an ongoing effort to keep it safe. Regularly monitoring and updating your website’s security measures can help to minimize the risk of a successful attack.
Conclusion
In conclusion, protecting your website against hackers is a critical aspect of modern web development. By keeping software and security measures up-to-date, validating user input, using secure coding practices, and taking other preventative measures, website owners and developers can help to reduce the risk of a successful attack. Regular monitoring and incident response planning can also help to minimize the damage of a security incident and ensure a prompt recovery.
It’s important to note that cyber security threats are constantly evolving, so website owners and developers should stay informed and adapt their security measures accordingly. By investing in website security, businesses can ensure the safety of their online assets, protect sensitive information, and maintain the trust of their customers.
