By: Larry Marca

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Website Defacement

• By Larry Marca

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What is Website Defacement?

• Website defacement is when a hacker compromises a
  web server and changes the data on the page.
• Causes businesses money and customers
• Occur constantly everyday

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Motives for Defacing a Website

• Motives
• Social
• Most common type of hacker, hack to gain peer
  acceptance, feeling of control
• Technical
• Hacking in order to assist
• Political
• Break into systems in order to get opinions
  heard strong political beliefs
• Financial
• Do it for individual gain

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Reasons Why Your Website is Defaced

• Incorrect protection of web pages, folders and
  applications is more common than correct
  protection
• Incorrect web site configuration may be more
  frequent than most people would like to image

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So How Does a Defacement Occur?

• The hacker uses some means to gain entrance to a
  web server
• He might overflow a buffer and insert some code
  which runs at a raised privilege to give him
  access
• He might guess or steal a password to an
  administrator or highly privileged account
• He may break a poorly secured application written
  in some language, placing some privileged program
  someplace on the server

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How to Prevent Defacement

• Guard web server with a good firewall
• Follow good security practices on your network
• Keep your system up-to-patch
• Keep in touch with diverse security newsgroups,
  newsletters and other information so you know
  what vulnerabilities exist

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Example of Website Defacement
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• A hackers' group said it had added its logo on
  the Web site of a lobbying group, the American
  Israel Public Affairs Committee.

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References

• AntiOnlineMaximum Security for a connected
  world. 03 Nov. 2003 lt http//www.antionline.com/
  fight-back/What_Is_A_Website_Defacement_And_What_D
  oes_It_Look_Like.phpgt.
• etest associates-Website Defacement and Security
  Testing. etest associates (UK) ltd. 03 Nov. 2003
  lthttp//www.etest-associates.com/pressroom/pr_web
  site_defacement_artcl.htmgt
• Hacker Notes-Web Site Defacement. 03 Nov. 2003
  lthttp//www.leave-me-alone.com/hackers_defacement.
  htmgt.
• Wagner, James. Web Vandalism on the Rise. 22
  Oct 2002. 03 Nov. 2003 lthttp//www.internetnews.co
  m/dev-news/article.php/1485601gt.