Hijacking is a type of computer attack in which hackers are able to modify the redirection of DNS servers. This what it does is when a user wants to enter a certain domain, the DNS returns a different IP address. Usually they are pages with malware and advertising controlled by these people behind the hijacking.
The problem is that they are capable of installing spyware and many other elements that can put our computer at risk. Spyware is capable of changing the browser’s home page, showing us only a certain type of page, or even preventing our antivirus from running.
Another action that usually occurs in these attacks is to show advertising through pop-ups, the installation of toolbars or block access to some web pages, although in the most serious cases they can even falsify searches made on Google such as in one of the cases in which a group of computer hackers hijacked the domains of Google Vietnam and Lenovo to redirect them to websites controlled by them.
Although this is the most common hijacking, the truth is that we can find a multitude of attacks and kidnappings related to Internet elements such as:
▸Of Domains
The domain is taken illegally. In this scam, the perpetrators gain access to domain registration through identity theft. In other words, the hijacker uses the identity of the rightful owner to be able to modify the registration information and reassign the domain to himself and steal it. In almost all cases, the victims of this kidnapping do not usually have the means to carry out judicial procedures that would allow them to regain ownership. In addition, kidnappers often operate in other countries.
▸Of Content
Content hijacking is based on publishing content from other websites as your own. That is, it is published content that will be detected by search engines. On the other hand, you can use a version of the existing content on your website in a condensed way and that is automated. Thus, the web page with the original content can lose the page ranking, while the one that has stolen the content appears in a better position in the page results.
▸From URL
The page is removed from the search engine ranking and replaced by another page that links to it.
▸Session
This type of hijacking exploits a valid session by stealing a session ID. This can be done by passive listening at the time it is sent to another server through cookies. If the session ID is valid, the attacker is in control of the session and can use it whenever he wants.
▸From search engines
This type of hijacking occurs when browsers offer separate fields for search engines. That is, one search engine can be changed to another with another URL.
See also:
What we understand about SEO Poisoning
