What Is Website Defacement?

Date First Published: 22nd September 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Learn more about what website defacement is in this article.

Website defacement is a type of website attack that involves a hacker finding a way to modify the files or contents of a website without the owner's permission in order to change the visual appearance to something intended to embarrass, scare, or shock visitors. Website defacement can be thought of as unwanted graffiti or vandalism that occurs on public walls and streets, except that is electronic. If someone notices that their website, or some of their pages have unexpectedly changed to something completely different without their permission, they are a victim of website defacement. Hackers may deface websites for fun or because of financial and political reasons. After defacement, sites have to be closed down for repairs and security reviews for a certain period of time.

What Methods Do Hackers Use To Deface Websites?

Defacing a website would require a hacker to gain access to the files of a website or web server control panel. The only way they would be able to do this is if they stole the site owner's password through vulnerabilities or deception techniques to gain unauthorised access to change content on a website. Once they gain administrative access, they can do whatever they want to on a website. Hackers can steal passwords through these methods:

• Phishing attacks - This is where someone sends an email that pretends to be from a reputable company when it actually isn't in order to trick people into giving their credentials away so that the phisher can gain unauthorised access to their account.
• Cross-site scripting attacks - This is a type of website vulnerability where a hacker finds a way to inject JavaScript code into a page. Since JavaScript can be used to do almost anything, cross-site scripting attacks could also be used for malicious purposes, such as stealing session cookies. If a hacker manages to steal a session cookie that hasn't expired, they will gain unauthorised access to the site owner's account.
• Malware - Sometimes, hackers may send users a link to a malicious site that they control which can lead to the downloading of malware and viruses that log keystrokes or search a computer for saved passwords and send this data to the hacker.
• DNS hijacking - This is where a hacker hijacks a DNS request and forcibly redirects online traffic to a domain name controlled by them. It may redirect to a phishing site. This may be caused by malware that manipulates a user's computer, a hijacked domain name, or a MITM attack.
• SQL injection - A code injection technique used to insert malicious SQL statements into an entry. It can be used to interfere with the queries made to a database. This could allow a hacker to gain access to usernames and passwords in a database.
• Giving unauthorised users permission to modify a website - If someone has permission to modify the source code of a website, they could also vandalise a website. This is why it is important to only give trusted users permission.

Effects Of Website Defacement

Website defacement has a negative impact on a website and may also harm the reputation of a business. The effects of website defacement are:

• Lower search engine ranking - It is very unlikely that vandalised and spammy content will rank high in search engines.
• Website blacklisting by search engines - Some search engines may penalise defaced sites from the search engines, preventing them from showing up. If Google determines that a site is hacked, they might deindex the site.
• Loss of revenue for a business - Businesses that rely on ecommerce will lose revenue due to their defaced and unusable website.
• Loss of trust in visitors - Visitors may lose trust in a website after it has been defaced and will become wary of entering any sensitive information.