Over the past decade, millions of businesses have embraced web applications as an inexpensive way to build relationships and 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 a type of cyberattack where the attacker assumes the identity of someone else to access sensitive information or perform malicious acts, such as taking credit card numbers or other personal information. The most common types of web attacks include Structured Query Language injection (SQLi) Cross-site scripting (XSS), and attacks on file uploads.

In a SQLi, hackers enter customized Structured Query Language (SQL) commands into an area on a web site or a web-based application to steal personal information stored on the database server that is backend. Similar to an XSS attack, hackers insert malicious code into an app or website that the victim’s web browser automatically executes without confirmation or encoding. The attack can hijack session details, display unauthorized text or images, or redirect the victim http://neoerudition.net/data-room-and-abilities-for-employees to a phishing website.

The best way to protect against an attack on your website is to conduct regular vulnerability scans and apply patches to your website and web servers, and any other databases that are underlying. It is also an excellent idea to develop an incident response plan to ensure that in the event of an attack it can be quickly identified and responded to. You should also be able to detect attacks on websites by noting warning signs, such as site slowdowns or intermittent shut downs.