Threats From the Fake Web: What is User Hijacking?
Ben Benoliel Contente
|Cyber Risks & Threats | June 30, 2022
Definition:
User Journey Hijacking happens when a user is diverted to a different website – usually a competitor’s – by fraudulent third-party software.
The user (a potential customer) can be shown lower-priced competitive products, fake coupon codes, as well as fake discounts. These are intended to hijack his attention from buying the product from your business.
Think about it: If you invest time and money in your website, deploy marketing campaigns and attract real users, the last thing you want to see it happening is a third party stealing your customer’s attention and journey to purchase.
Interesting Fact:
With the COVID 19 Pandemic, Global e-commerce reached a $26.7 trillion mark. Following the massive expansion of this market, the competitive and sometimes fraudulent practices to steal customers also grew.
How is it implemented?
User Journey Hijacking can be done in different ways. One of them is through a customer that has a plugin or a toolbar installed. These will track information pieces of his navigation while visiting your website. With it, ads from malicious third parties will be displayed to him and rob his attention to a different website.
Imagine this scenario: a customer is at your clothing e-Commerce site. He navigates through it, selects his favorite pieces, and goes to checkout. During this time, “pop-ups” appear on his screen, showing him ads from malicious websites impersonating your own with fake coupon codes. He then clicks on them and is redirected to the malicious website, which will capture his data and expose him to threats. With that happening at a higher rate, your e-Commerce will start suffering from cart abandonment, lower conversion rates, and higher costs of conversion.
This is one of the many scenarios where a user’s journey could be hijacked. To understand more about how you can prevent it, book a demo here.
Author
Ben Benoliel Contente
Demand Generation Manager
Ben joined CHEQ after his experience as a spokesperson for the military, and quickly made an impact in both the brand marketing and demand generation departments. Currently, Ben is focused on educating the public on the issue of the Fake Web.
