Session Hijacking Explained

Phishing has now become the number one hacker tactic during the last 25 years. This silent attack is now becoming highly common and deadlier. Its attacks are on the rise; they are advanced and serious nowadays. The newly developed hacking method allows phishing by using email accounts through session hijacking. This is the type of attack in which hackers gain control over your online accounts right after you log in. This completely bypasses both the passwords and MFA - Multi-factor Authentication.

It's a pretty serious affair because session hijacking now integrates with attacks as sophisticated as AiTM- Adversary-in-the-Middle or BiTM- Browser-in-the-Middle. So let's look into how such attacks work, but more importantly, how to save yourself from it.

What is Session Hijacking?

Every time you visit an email site, or Facebook, and many more, there technically is such a thing as "creating a session." In the eyes of the site, it identifies you, during this session, within your browser. To your knowledge, a stolen token allows the cyber thief to log on to an email site under your identity; not knowing that it is not actually you, MFA fails to catch them.

How AiTM and BiTM Worsen Session Hijacking

Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM)

AiTM attacks involve a hacker placing themselves in the middle between you and the actual website that you want to visit. Even though you have strong passwords and MFA, attackers with AiTM can bypass this protection because they will record your session activity and now will also be able to get access into all your interactions. Recently on CyberHoot, a post explained how this type of attack occurs. So, they used a phony Wi-Fi example to explain just how the hacker could trick you and fully compromise your account.

Browser-in-the-Middle (BiTM)

BiTM attacks exploit your browser's weakness. They install malicious code or extensions that hijack your session without your knowledge. These attacks are targeting mostly outdated or insecure browsers where they steal session tokens directly from your device. All it takes is for you to click on a malicious link or visit a harmful website for them to access your session information and financial transactions.

Infostealers

Infostealers belong to a family of malware that is uniquely designed for stealing sensitive information from the infected machines. Once installed on your computer, these programs can obtain login credentials and session tokens aside from personal data stored on your browser. The hacker can then send this information back to the server, giving them the possibility of hijacking your session or immediately exploiting the stolen credentials.

Impact of Session Hijacking

Once the hackers enter your session, they could obtain total access to your account without having to guess your password or even bypass your MFA. Hackers may, through this session hijacking:

• Theft of Personal Data: Hackers will obtain the most sensitive information related to personal and professional e-mails and accounts, as well as other online file storage solutions like Dropbox or Egnyte and bank accounts.
• Commit Financial Crimes: Cyber thieves may steal your login details to online banking or e-commerce and proceed to do whatever unauthorized transaction or even purchase items in your name. Because of this, most banks will enforce MFA for new payees or big sums of money transfers.
• Identity Theft: They can steal your identity online and apply for credit cards or loans in your name. Such attacks may cause permanent damage to your financial status.

Protecting Yourself

As the attacks evolve, you will need to do much more to defend your accounts and sessions. Some of them include:

1. Knowledge about AiTM and BiTM Attacks: Even when you have the strongest of passwords and MFA, there is always a possibility that you will get attacked by AiTM and BiTM. Therefore, when accessing any public or insecure network, make sure you have a VPN enabled, monitor your accounts for suspicious activity, and enable financial transaction alerts.
2. Implement MFA: While AiTM attacks occasionally evade MFA, it is still required for the second line of defense. MFA would make things much tougher for attackers; at least the attack process gets extended if session tokens are not captured right away. Make MFA applicable to every big fund transfer.
3. Secure Browser: Use a VPN on Public Networks. Using a VPN provides an additional layer of encryption on your internet traffic while using public Wi-Fi; thus, making it difficult for the attacker to intercept your session tokens. Logging out regularly. A habit should be created to log out from significant websites especially while using a shared or public device. This will prevent an attacker from hijacking an active session.
4. Freeze Your Credit: If you suspect that your information is being stolen through session hijacking or for any other reason, freeze your credit. Freezing your credit can stop new accounts from being opened under your name and will greatly prevent identity theft.

What Businesses Can Do to Mitigate Session Hijacking Risks

Most vulnerable businesses are those that primarily use session hijacking, particularly by employees remotely accessing a system. These are the bare minimum measures companies can undertake to protect themselves and users:

1. Implement Secure Cookies: Mark the cookies as secure so they get transmitted only over HTTPS connections, thus reducing the risk of interception itself.
2. Limit Session Lifetimes: Set the minimum number of seconds that an active session can persist without having to reauthenticate itself. This sets the maximum number of seconds through which an attacker can have control of a stolen session.
3. Implement Automated Anomaly-Based Detection: Monitor for suspicious sessions, such as login activities coming from diverse geographical locations, computers, or a computer IP, for example. This helps give one adequate time to act and regulate breaches before they assume a stronghold.
4. Implement MFA Requirements: Apply MFA for all high-value transactions from your website or application, for example, to add new payees or make fund transfers. It provides security on sensitive operations.
5. Training Employees: Organize time-to-time training sessions where employees are made aware of phishing, session hijacking, and other cyber threats. Equip the employees with means to recognize suspicious activities and take requisite action.
6. Implement IDS and Endpoint Protection Solutions: These would identify and provide protection against the threat that is arriving.

Conclusion

Session hijacking has become one of the important cyber threats. This method involves the traditional form of hijacking as well as new and modern types of attacks like AiTM, BiTM, and infostealers. These methods can bypass normal defensive systems like passwords and MFA and leave back doors for individual and organization weaknesses.

It is something requiring awareness and proactive acts towards preventing your sessions from session hijacking attacks. Organizations must ensure that session tokens are protected with the most robust safeguards, which will protect their users from these increasingly common and devastating attacks. This can eventually aid the individual as well as the organization in better defense against an evolving cyber threat landscape by creating a culture of security awareness and vigilance.

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