Website hijacking refers to the way in which cyber attackers control user access traffic by illegally tampering with DNS resolution, hijacking network transmission or invading servers, etc. The result is likely to cause user data leakage, search engine downgrading, brand reputation loss, etc. Only by building a systematic defense system covering dimensions such as the transport layer, server layer, application layer and management layer can we more effectively defend against website hijacking.
I. Security Reinforcement of the transport layer
The mandatory deployment of HTTPS across the entire site is the fundamental defense line. The TLS 1.3 protocol is adopted and an ECC certificate with more than 2048 bits is configured to achieve end-to-end encrypted transmission. The technical key points include: enabling the HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) response header, setting maxage≥180 days and including the includeSubDomains directive; Deploy OCSP Stapling to eliminate certificate verification delays; Disable weak protocols such as SSLv3/TLS 1.0 in the NGINX configuration; Financial platform tests show that a complete HTTPS deployment can block 99% of man-in-the-middle hijacking attacks. At the same time, a full-path jump from HTTP to HTTPS should be implemented, and 301 redirection rules should be set in the load balancer to eliminate the risk of protocol degradation.
Ii. Server Environment Protection
The operating system and permission control form the second barrier. The principle of least privilege should be followed. The user privilege of the Web process is limited to nobody, and the ability of Shell login is prohibited. Directory write permission isolation should also be implemented. The root directory of the website is set to chmod 750, and PHP execution is disabled in the uploaded directory (location ~ \.(php)${deny all; }), for the service port minimization firewall, only open ports 80/443, modify the SSH port to a 5-digit number and enable key authentication.
A vulnerability scan of a certain e-commerce platform shows that strict permission policies can reduce the risk of web page tampering by 82%. Meanwhile, an automated patch management mechanism needs to be established. By batch-deploying critical security updates, the vulnerability exposure window can be shortened to within 24 hours.
Iii. DNS Security Protection
The deployment of DNSSEC technology can defend against DNS pollution attacks. Enable DNSSEC signatures in the domain name registrar console and configure DS records to be synchronized to the top-level domain name server. Set the TTL of DNS records to ≤300 seconds to shorten the attack window. In combination with registrar security locks (such as Verisign's Registry Lock), it is required that critical changes need multiple manual verifications.
Iv. Application Layer Security Policies
Content Security Policy (CSP) is the core for preventing malicious script injection:
html
ContentSecurityPolicy:
defaultsrc 'self';
scriptsrc 'nonce{random value}' 'strictdynamic';
imgsrc cdn.example.com;
framesrc 'none'This configuration restricts the script to execute only the code carrying the valid nonce attribute and prevents third-party scripts from injecting it. After the e-commerce platform was connected to CSP, the success rate of XSS attacks decreased by 97%. Meanwhile, sub-resource integrity Check (SRI) needs to be enabled:
html
<script src="https://cdn.example.com/jquery.js"
integrity="sha384{HASH value}"
crossorigin="anonymous"></script>When CDN resources are tampered with, the browser will refuse to load files with mismatched hash values.
V. Continuous Monitoring and Response
The real-time security monitoring system should include: scanning the MD5 value of the home page every 5 minutes, triggering an alarm when there is an abnormal change, tracking the issuance of abnormal certificates through the CertStream API, and automatically checking the status of Google Safe Browsing. At the same time, establish an emergency response process: immediately cut off the server's external network access after confirming the hijacking, restore the pure system image from the offline backup, reset all system credentials and API keys, conduct a full scan of the backdoor program, and come back online after completing digital forensics.
Vi. Enterprise-level Enhancement Solutions
Large organizations need to implement in-depth defense: configure a regular rule base to intercept sensitive path scans such as /etc/passwd, analyze abnormal jump parameters in HTTP headers through Zeek, write the hash values of the website's core files to Ethereum, and provide immutable verification. After a certain bank adopted the intelligent WAF, the interception rate of automated hijacking attacks reached 99.8%, and the false alarm rate was controlled below 0.01%.
Website anti-hijacking is a dynamic attack and defense process, which requires the construction of a technical closed loop covering "transmission encryption, environment reinforcement, resolution protection, application control, and continuous monitoring". The practice in the financial industry shows that the complete implementation of the above-mentioned plan can reduce the hijacking risk to less than 0.2 times per year, while meeting the requirements of Level 3 of the Cybersecurity Law 2.0. The technical team should conduct penetration tests and contingency plan drills every quarter to ensure that the defense system continues to evolve along with attack techniques.
