Attacks are known as “clickjacking” and cause users to mistakenly click on hidden or pose as another element on a webpage. Businesses might not take these vulnerabilities seriously because clickjacking assaults don’t directly impact websites. However, people are impacted by these attacks, and only businesses can shield them with effective clickjacking protection methods. Businesses that fail to take the appropriate precautions are effectively endangering the value of their brands and their ability to stay in operation.
1. What are Clickjacking Attacks?
Through UI tactics that deceive the user into thinking they are taking the intended activities, the attacker collects user clicks in clickjacking assaults. User Interface Redressing is another name for these attacks. The bulk of attackers take use of HTML iframe-related clickjacking flaws and defense strategies that target avoiding page framing.
An example of how clickjacking works in real-life
- The attacker has carefully created a website that offers alluring deals and rewards.
- The attacker will check the user’s login status on the e-commerce or banking site in the background. The attacker enters their banking information into the form using query parameters.
- The user’s bank transfer page or e-commerce checkout page is superimposed on the malicious website in a frame that is completely transparent.
- Confirm Transfer and Confirm Purchase are associated with clickable buttons on the fraudulent website that says “Claim Gift,” “Claim Offer,” and “Book Your Free Trip,” respectively.
- The fund transfer or transaction is truly confirmed when the user clicks on these items.
- The user will be forwarded to the page with details on the offer or free gift unaware of the financial transfer or product transaction taking place in the background.
- Since the user took the actions while really logged into their banking or e-commerce account, this attack cannot be linked to the attacker.
Types of Clickjacking Attacks
The attack may take on many titles depending on the nature of the particular operation. Think about the following variations, for instance.
- Likejacking: This type of attack redirects users to a Facebook page or other social media site by grabbing their clicks.
- Cookiejacking: In this case, the user is encouraged to interact with a user interface element, such as by dragging and dropping, and to provide the attacker access to cookies that are saved on their browser. The attacker would then have the ability to operate on behalf of the user on the target website.
- Filejacking: In this type of attack, the victim allows the attacker access to the local file system and takes files.
- Cursorjacking: By using this method, the pointer is moved from where the user sees it to a different location. In this manner, the user deceives themselves into performing one action while they are actually performing another.
- Password manager attacks: The purpose of these attacks is to deceive password managers into taking advantage of their auto-fill features.
How to Prevent Clickjacking?
Fortunately, there are a number of precautions that a company may take to safeguard its personnel, clients, and other stakeholders against a clickjacking attack. These safeguards are normally carried out by the web development team because they are server-driven, call for some coding, and need an understanding of how the web works.
1. Prevent Framing
To prevent framing or the republishing of the website’s content in an HTML container on another website, a policy might be put in place. A Content Security Policy (CSP) is what is used for this, and it can act as the first line of defense against a clickjacking attack. In essence, the CSP only allows a few web resources that the client browser can use, like JavaScript and CSS.
2. Move the Current Frame to the Top
This technique also referred to as an X-Frame-Options, depends on the response header, which is the code used to specify whether a browser should be permitted to render a page in a frame, as an embed, or as an object when webpages are pushed via the browser. The webmaster has control over the use of objects or iframes thanks to the header. The webmaster can choose whether to forbid the inclusion of a webpage within a frame by adding this additional code to the page’s header.
X-Frame wasn’t designed for all browsers; it was initially created for Internet Explorer 8. When integrating X-Frame-Options, the web development team must keep this in mind. A CSP plus X-Frame-Options can be an effective combination for stopping a clickjacking assault.
3. Consider Browser Add-ons
When an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request comes in, some web browser add-ons stop scripts from running. The cyberattacker’s code cannot be run since the scripts have been stopped in their tracks. Employees must install an add-on on their browser to use this client-side method. They need to install the add-on on all of their devices for additional security.
4. Add a Framekiller to the Website
Similar to the X-Frame Option, a framekiller disables parts of a webpage from being loaded into and shown in a frame. It is sometimes referred to as a frame buster or frame breaker. To determine if the current window is the primary window, the JavaScript code performs a validation. It is forbidden to display the page if it is not the main window.
5. Use a Strong Cybersecurity Solution
The Fortinet Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), for example, is a powerful platform that can shield a network from several threats and attack methods. A security platform can identify suspicious behavior and instantly counteract attacks like clickjacking.
6. Educate Employees
Employee education is crucial because they may be able to alert the security team to a clickjacking attack that is already in progress. Employees should be on guard if they notice any odd clicks or elements of what they perceive to be the website’s normal interface as part of their general cybersecurity training.
Conclusion
In a clickjacking assault, the victim clicks on links on a website that they think is a well-known, reputable website. But in reality, they are clicking on a covert website that has been layered on top of the well-known one. Another threat vector that could lead to a security breach is clickjacking.
Implementing a Content Security Policy (CSP), coding for X-Frame-Options, introducing browser add-ons, utilizing a sophisticated firewall system, and training staff is just a few methods that can be utilized to prevent clickjacking we hope you like our blog which is on What is a Clickjacking attack and Tips to Prevent Them.