What Is Session Hijacking, and How Does it Affect Your Brand?

In the world of affiliate marketing, affiliates promote content on websites and generate leads or sales. The company intends to pay commissions for generating sales or leads on that website. In short, affiliate marketing offers a passive income stream for affiliates. But with nefarious actors disrupting the ecosystem and exploiting marketing efforts, companies may experience crucial consequences.

Fraudsters employ fake methodologies to improve affiliate commissions. Such affiliate traps can impact a company’s reputation and even affect its customer experience. And one of the most common threats is cookie hijacking. In the current e-commerce space, around 31% of apps are vulnerable to this type of fraudulent attack. This post explains everything about cookie/session hijacking.

A Brief on How Session Hijacking Works

Cookie hijacking or session hijacking is a practice that malicious actors perform to access and steal personal data. At times, they also prevent the customers from accessing their accounts. It can occur if a malware program waits for the user to log into the website. The malware then steals the session cookie and sends it to the threat actor.

A cookie attack is practiced when a threat actor sends fake login information to the user. As soon as the user clicks on the fake link, the malicious actor gets access to their private details. The fraudster can access anything that the user types. If the fraudster has the session cookie, they may log into the website and get access to even change the password. 

An Overview of Session Hijacking: What Are the Different Types?

A malicious actor can practice session cookie hijacking in either of these ways:

Click Hijacking

Click hijacking is a malicious practice by which attackers implement different elements such as:

• Call-to-action buttons
• Black spaces
• Footers
• Search bars and many others

The only purpose is to install affiliate cookies to steal users’ private information. If the user clicks on these elements mistakenly, the fraudster earns a profit without any legitimate practices.

Malware or Adware

Adware and malware are unnecessary third-party programs that lead to session hijacking. Malicious actors use these programs to penetrate session cookies. They bundle up and find a route to the user’s system. 

When installed in the user’s system, these programs give fraudsters access to the system. So, threat actors get access to cookies by navigating through the machine.

Session Sniffing

Session cookies are a significant part of the website traffic. This type of fraud usually occurs when a threat actor employs packet sniffers to interrupt and log packets when they flow across the network connection. This fraud allows malicious actors to steal session cookies, thereby hampering website traffic.

Session Fixation

If the threat actor launches a fixed session in the user’s browser, it is a session fixation practice. This type of fraudulent activity traps a user without their login details. It may occur even when the user has not yet logged in. The most common method to initiate a fixation session is through session identifiers from fraud URLs and posts.

Cross-Site Scripting

There are times when fraudsters use the running code and, through it, inject nefarious software. It is known as cross-site scripting. Here, scripts appear as a part of the side script. Fraudsters use it to target prospective customers and loyal buyers. On the other hand, these customers and buyers believe that the script originates from a trustworthy source.

If they use these scripts, fraudsters get access to private information. These fraudulent actors can easily modify hijacked cookies and mislead advertisers.

The Catastrophic Impact of Session Hijacking: How Can It Affect a Brand and Its Customers?

Without the right session hijacking prevention solutions, session hijacking can impose multiple risks. Here’s presenting a few of them.

Reputational Damage

Malicious actors redirect users several times to add cookies to the system. Also, the adware affects the system and hampers the overall browsing experience. As a result, it may hamper brand identity and result in loss of customers.

Loss of Users’ Personal Information and Identity Theft

Session hijacking allows threat actors to access confidential information of users. That means they can get access to their passwords, credit card numbers, and other details, resulting in financial fraud and identity theft.

Protect Your Brand from Session Hijacking with Virus Positive Technologies

Has your brand been a victim of cookie hijacking? Recognizing active cookie hijacking is a daunting job. It is time you seek the best prevention solutions from a recognizable team. Protect your company’s identity and eliminate the risks of financial loss with Virus Positive Technologies. 

As a pioneer in brand protection and affiliate fraud management, Virus Positive Technologies comprises a group of top-notch engineers to identify cookie hijacking. The cookie hijacking tool used by the team can offer sought-after solutions. VPT professionals can also provide you with brand compliance monitoring services and protect your brand reputation.