On a day to day basis too many people join the internet, they browse through it and take care of various tasks online. All of these users are using a browser in order to communicate with the internet that is why the risk of browser hijacking lingers across these users. These malicious intrusions spark the outside control of the user data such as getting around extremely valuable user information such as their personal and financial information and recording their browsing patterns.
Browser hijacking commonly takes place when a user comes in contact with some adware or unwanted software that has malicious scripts lined into them. In common terms, the definition of a Browser hijacker is an unwanted program, tool, or software that modifies the web browser's settings without the consent from the user or asking for their permission. This could lead to increased advertisements when visiting certain web pages or leaking of the personal user information, hackers can also tempt to steal the user cookies for impersonating them.
In a nutshell, the website hijacking is not only dangerous but a moment of awe and despair that stuff in too many questions on the performance of internet security. Here is some detailed information about how a user can get affected and intent of these illicit practitioners;
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Impact and risk of Browser Hijack
There could be a lot of different scenarios or intent of these illicit practitioners, a few most common might include;
- Stealing the information of the users
- Spying on the users
- Showing too many advertisements
- Running try it before you buy hard sell on a customer
These are some of the most common reasons or purposes an illicit actor might hide behind. Some of the time these hackers or illicit cybercriminals might drop malware into the web browser of the user for the sake of directing them towards particular websites and web pages. These malicious web pages can then steal the personal and important information of the user such as their username, passwords, IDs, full address, social security numbers, or other valuable information. This way these attackers don't only have all the information they need to hurt the user but in the worst possible cases can also claim their identity.
Methods used for Browser hijacking and how to steer clear of them?
Mostly the malware or malicious scripts are going to be involved for the browser hijacking but how do these unpacks depend on the attacker. That is why the following are some of the methods used by the illicit cybercriminals for browser hijacking;
Tricking the users for installing free software
Most of the time you might have come around the installation of a software system and a pop-up shows on your browser then you can also download another particular software for free as well. Most of the users get tempted by the offer and click the install button which is nothing but the malicious script written by the cyber actors. When that malicious software is installed onto the user's machine it will unfold into malware taking on the personal as well as other important settings of the user.
The best way to deal with this method is to ignore the installation of the additional third-party software completely or using the trusted vendors or website to download the software you initially wanted. Always uncheck the boxes during installation that says additional or lure you to install another software for free.
Phishing emails and links
Phishing is the most common and the oldest trick in the books, not only many people on a day to day basis receive phishing emails but plenty of them take them for granted and get lured into the traps of the cybercriminals. Most of the time a phishing email also comes with an additional link which upon clicking users will find them onto another malicious web page being deprived of their impotent information in the process.
The best way to deal with phishing is to ignore it completely and changing the password of all the online logins that you have. If the email impersonates an online company that is reputable then you can reach out to that company by some other means (separately emailing them instead of replying to the phishing email) to verify whether they sent you the email or not.
Compromised browser extensions
Users are installing compromised browser extensions all the time and with them, they are welcoming the malware deep into their systems. With these extensions and add-ons gets downloaded the web hijacking software too. In order to verify the authenticity of the extension that you are going to use or download first check it on Google if you can’t find any questionable information about it then you are good to download and install the extensions, otherwise don’t.
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