XSS attacks are a form of injection attack where innocent seeming websites get code of a malicious nature attached to them. This code can be installed when another user visits the same web application. The browser does not suspect the web application they have visited and will have the code downloaded to their device. The code can then proceed to carry out other forms of malicious operations such as stealing information from the users device and uploading it to some other server on the internet.
In the XSS attack, the web application becomes compromised. It acts as a disguise through which the hacker will be able to get to the target devices. Once the web application has been compromised, the web browser visiting it will have no other option but to trust it. Once the web application has been trusted by the web browser, the malicious code will then execute itself and download code to the user’s device or computer. For instance, the browser might download a virus which will then infect the users’ device or computer. Once it has been downloaded and installed, the malicious source code will compile on the user device and complete the mission it had been programmed for. If the hacker intended for the end rootkit installed on the users device to use it in a command and conquer scheme for a DDOS attack, the software will stay hidden in the background. It will wait until a set time to begin carrying out the cyber-attack. These forms of attacks are very dangerous and they do not get easily detected. For instance, they will wait until a sufficient number of computers and devices have been infected by the malicious software before executing.
The XSS attacks are very difficult to detect and once they have been put in motion they will not be noticed until they have begun causing harm and damage to other information systems. The source code that has been downloaded to the local device or computer will also keep itself hidden by looking like the other applications on the computer. It will clone the thread codes and processor code of currently running application to seem innocent to the firewall and antivirus applications on the computer. They are very difficult to detect and most of the time, they are able to carry out successful attacks and infections on host computers. They are also very difficult to stop owing to the nature of their complexity.
If the computer visits the web application or website that has been primed up for an XSS attack, it will download the suspicious source code and install itself. The software will act as a client listening to a server that is under control of the hacker. The hacker will be able to see the number of computers that have been infected by their application and determine when is the best time to trike. The user of the computer will not be able to notice they have been infected until the software is actively carrying out a DDOS attack.