Introduction
In this post, you will learn what is browser hijacking and how exactly browser hijacking works. Browser hijacking is a type of spyware attack. I have already written a post on what is spyware. To read more about spyware visit: http://techyrick.com/what-is-spyware/.
What is browser hijacking?
A browser hijacker is a type of malicious software created by cybercriminals to spy on users. Browser hijacker comes with an attached malware and the primary target of this piece of malicious code is to change the user’s web browser settings and throw as many ads to the default browser so, the criminal can earn more.
The cybercriminals go one step further and gather all information like cookies and history and the caches and sell that information to advertisement companies.
The cybercriminals may also add another spyware malware to get the keystrokes of login credentials. Removing a browser hijacking malware is very easy. So, the users shouldn’t worry about it.
Also Read: What is social engineering
How browser hijacking works
Generally, the malware enters through hosts like a trojan horse or spyware. The small piece of code can hide in a trusted extension or application. Once the application or extension is executed manually the malicious code will get performed. Spyware and Adware also are related to browser hijacking.
There are three reasons why cybercriminals use browser hijacking
- To steal information from users
- Spy on user
- Get revenue from ads
There is a real-life incident of this malware. It’s CWS(cool web search).
CWS or Coolwebsearch, a Cybersecurity expert, firstly noticed this spyware malware in May 2003. The cyber expert added this spyware malware to the subset of Virus.
Firstly, this spyware malware enters through the drive-by method and the primary target of the malware is to affect the web browser. When the users open the web browser, all the settings will be changed and even the default search engine will be changed or deleted.
Whenever you try to make a move in the infected web browser, the user will redirect to malicious sites or pornography sites. This malware specifically targets Microsoft Windows devices. The group behind this attack is Koobface and there are 47 Variants of this CWS Spyware malware.
Also Read: DoS and DDoS difference
How to find you are infected by this malware
I have mentioned some possible ways;
- Firstly your default search engine changing to some random search engine.
- Slow down of the web browser.
- Multiple extension installed without users knowledge.
- Very frequent pop-ups on the web browser.
Also Read: What is DDoS? How DDoS works
Also Read: What is DoS? How DoS works
