What is session hijacking?
Session hijacking is a cyberattack allowing an attacker to gain unauthorized access to a user's active session on a website or application. How does session hijacking work? Also known as cookie hijacking, it works by stealing active session cookies, a temporary file a website saves on your device. These cookies contain your authentication details, so the attacker can use your online account without the need to reenter your login information or go through other authentication steps, such as 2FA, MFA, and passkeys.
Needless to say, anyone with this kind of access can do significant financial and reputational damage to you and your company. To stop session hijacking, use NordStellar.
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How to prevent session hijacking
The best way to avoid session hijacking is to monitor leaked session cookies.
Keep your systems and apps up-to-date. Patching cross-site scripting (XSS) and other vulnerabilities in time helps you protect your session cookies as well as prevent session hijacking even if your cookies are stolen.
What extra security and software patches can’t do, education can. Ensure everyone in your company can recognize phishing attacks and understand various social engineering techniques.
A firewall is often the first line of defense helping protect systems from unauthorized access. Make sure your firewall and antivirus software are configured properly to ensure they block malicious attacks.
Limit sessions to a specific device, IP address, or browser fingerprint. This way, you’ll make it much harder for the attackers to reuse stolen cookies. Alternatively, notify users if a login happens from a new device.
Always use HTTPS to encrypt data exchanged between users and your system. Also, avoid using public Wi-Fi without a VPN as much as possible. Unsecured networks are often targeted by cybercriminals.
When it comes to threat exposure management, platform like NordStellar can do most of the work for you. By monitoring the deep and dark web, it can detect malware-infected devices, identify stolen cookies, and invalidate compromised sessions.
How does session hijacking prevention work?
To ensure your company’s security, NordStellar uses various techniques:
Monitors the dark web 24/7
Scan the deep and dark web for stolen session cookies associated with an organization's employees and customers.
notifies about stolen cookies
Receive alerts whenever the platform detects a stolen session cookie, including the source, device and other stolen information.
Invalidates stolen session cookies
Revoke compromised sessions and prevent attackers from hijacking those sessions.
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Why should you use NordStellar session hijacking prevention?
Prevents unauthorized access to sensitive data
Session hijacking prevention ensures the security of company accounts by detecting and invalidating stolen session cookies.
Protects your company against online fraud
The solution prevents attackers from using stolen session cookies for account fraud such as unauthorized transactions and impersonations.
Keeps your corporate resources safe and sound
It ensures unauthorized parties cannot access company resources, including cloud-based applications and internal networks.
Explore more security solutions from NordStellar
NordStellar lets your cybersecurity team patch critical vulnerabilities and intervene at the earliest stages of an attack – before any real damage is done.
Dark web monitoring allows you to track all keywords associated with your business across deep and dark web communities, such as hacker forums, illicit marketplaces, and Telegram channels. It helps you uncover brand mentions, issues with vendors, and leaked information about your VIP personnel.
Data breach monitoring involves scanning the deep and dark web for leaked sensitive information linked to your business. To spot breached data, NordStellar checks infostealer malware logs, leaked databases, and collections of stolen credentials combinations. This solution provides real-time monitoring and the full context of past and present attacks.
Attack surface management (ASM) helps you monitor your business's external attack surface to prevent potential cyber risks. It lets you efficiently manage your company's internet-facing assets, such as IP addresses with open ports and outdated technologies, by identifying vulnerabilities and security gaps within them.
Cybersquatting detection helps you recognize and prevent threat actors from impersonating your brand. Using content and visual similarity algorithms enriched with AI, NordStellar can detect various domain manipulations and issue real-time alerts, providing a detailed view of each suspicious domain.
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FAQ
- Session hijacking starts with session ID theft, which involves stealing the user's active session cookies. Common methods include sniffing unencrypted traffic, cross-site scripting (XSS), or malicious software.
- Then, the attacker uses the stolen session ID to spoof the users identity. In other words, the attacker tricks the system to think it’s the legitimate user.
- Once inside, they can exploit the access to continue the session without reentering the password. They can access sensitive information, perform unauthorized actions, or escalate privileges.
Session hijacking is very dangerous because an attacker has full access to the user’s account. Using the compromised account, they can steal the victim’s identity, access and reveal internal company data, and authorize transactions. For any business, financial and reputational losses would be significant as well as likely lead to regulatory fines.
Detecting session hijacking often comes down to looking for warning signs, such as unusual account activity, sudden logouts, and alerts about simultaneous logins from unrecognized devices.
NordStellar can help mitigate these threats by monitoring session integrity, alerting users to suspicious activity, and invalidating compromised sessions.
To choose the best session hijacking prevention solution, look for a reputable brand that offers strong encryption, session monitoring, and a level of automation.
There are various types of session hijacking techniques. Most common are session fixation, session sidejacking, cross-side scripting, and malware.
Session fixation involves tricking the user into using a session ID the hacker already knows about, while session sidejacking requires stealing the session ID through an unencrypted network. Hackers also often use malware to capture session cookies stored on the compromised device or inject a malicious script into a website.
If you’ve been notified of a session hijacking, log out of your accounts immediately. Also, make sure to change your passwords, enable MFA, and contact your company’s cybersecurity team.