A web attack is a way to exploit vulnerabilities on websites or parts of it. The attacks may affect the content, web application or server of a website. Websites offer many opportunities for attackers to gain unauthorized access, gain confidential information, or introduce malicious content.
Attackers look for vulnerabilities in the content or structure of a site to get access to data, control of it, or even harm users. Common attacks include brute force attacks (XSS) as well as file upload attacks, and cross-site scripting. Other attacks are possible through social engineering, like malware attacks or phishing like ransomware trojans, worms or spyware.
The most frequent attacks on websites attack the web application, that is composed of the software and hardware that a website uses to show information to its visitors. Hackers are able to attack an application on the web by exploiting its flaws, including SQL injection and cross-site request forgery and reflection-based XSS.
SQL injection attacks rely on database that web applications use to store and provide web-based content. These attacks could expose a variety of sensitive data, especially passwords, account logins and credit card numbers.
Cross-site Scripting attacks exploit flaws in the code of websites to display untrusted images or text, take over session information, and then redirect users to phishing websites. Reflective XSS lets an attacker execute an arbitrary program.
A man-in-the middle attack occurs when a third party intercepts the communications between you and your web server. The third party could alter messages, spoof certificate and alter DNS responses and the list goes on. This is a method to manipulate online activities.