With the Internet driving interactions between computers across the world, hackers are using various different strategies for hijacking sensitive data stored on your computer.
The hackers use attractions and temptations to lure unsuspecting laymen into divulging the sensitive data stored on their computers.
One such method is for phishers to use JavaScript to launch a number of attacks on an unsuspecting computer user connected to the Internet. The main purpose of using JavaScript is to obfuscate the trail leading to the hijacker.
What the hijacker does is to replace the legitimate link of a Web site with his own in an e-mail application or a Web browser. However, using JavaScript the hijacker is able to replace this legitimate link and override it with his own.
This makes the unsuspecting victim think that he is logging on to the legitimate Web site, whereas his login info gets transmitted to the hijacker. Thereafter, mayhem results, because the hijacker can simply use the confidential user name and password information to withdraw money from the victim's Internet accessible bank account.
Another trick that hijackers use is to introduce a worm via an e-mail phishing message into an unsuspecting user's unprotected computer. On access of the message by the user, the worm then copies itself onto the hard drive of his/her computer. The worm tries to fool the user into parting with credit card related sensitive information by a ruse that invokes a response from the user to an expiration notice from PayPal or Microsoft.
The danger from such an attack is that the worm replicates itself and attaches itself messages it sends to all the e-mail contacts of the victim. There is as such no limit to the sort of damage that a hijacker can initiate against multi-propagated attacks on a host of computers.
Another such method is to use a keylogger application to pull all sensitive information out of a victim's computer. A keylogger program may be attached to a phishing e-mail message. When a victim clicks and opens the e-mail message, the harmful application gets installed onto the hard drive. Thereafter, the rogue application logs in a text file every keystroke typed by the user on his machine. The log file is automatically sent to the hijacker via e-mail.
Not only can the hijacker then steal the data, he can also commit identity theft. Moreover, the hijacker can even change the login password to the machine making it impossible for the legitimate user to log in. The only solution is to format the hard drive thereby losing all important valuable data stored on the system. Therefore, it becomes necessary to use all malware protection applications on every Internet connected computer.
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