The internet was not designed with security in mind. As a result, it is not only possible, but trivial to perform a specific type of attack against almost any online user — an attack that can result in a lost of a user/pass, an infected system, or a stolen identity. Ironically, for all the potential this attack has, few people realize the danger they are exposing themselves to as they surf around online. In this update we are going to look at this attack vector and demonstrate just how dangerous it can be. As we will illustrate, by combining this attack vector with a vulnerable web application, it is possible to steal the emails of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of users.

At InformIT.

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