Your digital footprint leaves breadcrumbs that cyber criminals can pick up to masquerade as you online.
Cookie theft attacks let malicious actors steal your identity for a browsing session, gaining unauthorised access to your web accounts and sensitive data.
This can lead not only to them accessing your accounts but making purchases using your log in.
What is a Cookie Theft Attack?
Cookie theft attacks are a type of cyberattack where a cyber criminal is able to access and steal user's session cookies to gain unauthorized access to their web accounts and sensitive information.
The cyber crime is also known as session hijacking.
Whenever you log into a website the server creates a temporary file known as a session cookie. This is stored in your browser and contains a session ID which allows the website to ‘remember’ you as you navigate different pages. This is useful for keeping users logged in, keeping items in your online cart or remembering preferences.
The cookies are temporary and typically deleted when you close the browser. These cookies are key to malicious actors' attack plans.
There are a few key methods used to access these cookies:
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): This is tricking websites into running malicious code in your browser, which can then steal your cookies.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM): This is when hackers secretly monitor the communication between your computer and the website, especially on public Wi-Fi, to the cookie as it's being sent.
Malware: This involves installing harmful software on your computer that can look for and steal your saved cookies.
Packet Sniffing: Here they use special tools to watch network traffic and grab unencrypted cookies.
Social Engineering: This is when victims are manipulated into doing something (like clicking a malicious link) that could reveal their cookies.
Once the hacker has stolen your cookie information they can utilize it for their own nefarious means.
Deceived by the valid session ID, the server mistakenly identifies the attacker as the legitimate user. This grants the attacker unauthorized access to the user's web account which can bypass the need for usernames and passwords.
With this access, the attacker can view the user's personal information, potentially exposing sensitive details such as contact information, payment details, and private communications.
They can make unauthorized purchases, leading to financial losses for the victim. Account settings can also be modified, potentially locking the legitimate user out or enabling further malicious actions.
How To Prevent Cookie Theft?
Like any sophisticated cyber attack, preventing cookie theft requires a multilayered approach.
Always ensure that the websites you visit, especially when logging in or handling sensitive information, use HTTPS.
HTTPS encrypts the communication between your browser and the web server, making it much harder for attackers to intercept your session cookies through Man-in-the-Middle attacks. You can check this by looking for a padlock icon in the address bar.
Be especially cautious on public Wi-Fi networks. They are less secure and can be easily monitored by attackers. If you have to use public Wi-Fi, be sure not to access sensitive accounts like banking and email.
It’s also important to keep your software up to date. Updates that are easily ignored often include security patches that can protect against known vulnerabilities that attackers might exploit to steal cookies.
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