What Is A Web App Attack, How Does It Work — 5 Stages Of A Web App Attack

Short Bytes: A Web App Attack is one of the biggest threats faced by websites and online businesses. In this article, we are going to tell you about 5 stages of a Web App Attack — Reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining Access, Maintaining Access, and Covering Tracks — and how this attack works.

If we start looking at the number of hacking attacks in 2015 alone, the number of personal records breached touches almost one billion. In 2015, we saw some of the most notorious hacking attacks till date, namely attacks on Ashleey Madison, TalkTalk, Patreon Donation Site, Pentagonetc.

As the application development is moving more and more onto the web, the Web is home to everything we need. 2015 also saw an increase in Web App Attacks that are carried out using a well-planned plan-of-action. The attack usually targets the web server used by the target company. In spite of network defenses like intrusion penetration systems and firewalls, the Web application could be attacked by an outsider in multiple ways.

What Is A Web App Attack, How Does It Work

In this article, we are going to explain you the five stages of a Web App Attack from a hacker’s perspective. The each stage will be explained into three parts — What is it? How does it work? How do I defend myself against it?

The five stages that will be explained ahead are: Reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining Access, Maintaining Access, and Covering Tracks.

Let’s take a look at this useful infographic by Barricade, an Early Warning System against Hackers.

Anatomy of a Web App Attack – Visually Explained