In the last decade, millions of businesses and organizations have embraced the Web as a cost-effective way to connect with customers and conduct business. This includes the use of web-based software that store and collect data such as customer data submitted through content management systems, shopping carts and inquiry forms and login fields.

Since these applications are online-based and often accessed from anywhere in the world, they are vulnerable to hacking attempts to exploit weaknesses in the application or its infrastructure. For example, SQL injection attacks (which exploit weaknesses in the database) could result in compromised databases that contain sensitive information. Attackers can also exploit an advantage gained by breaching an Web application to detect and access other, more vulnerable systems on your network.

Cross Site Scripting (XSS) is a different Web attack type. It exploits weaknesses in web servers to inject malicious code into web pages. The script is then executed within the victim’s browser. This lets attackers obtain confidential information or to redirect the user to sites that offer phishing. Web forums, message boards, and blogs are prone to XSS attacks.

Distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) involve hackers joining together to pummel a website with more requests than it is able to handle. This could cause the page to slow or http://neoerudition.net/avg-secrets-and-features even stop functioning altogether that compromises the ability of the site to process requests and render it inaccessible for everyone. DDoS attacks can be devastating to small businesses, such as local bakeries or restaurants that depend on their websites to run.