What…hitchhikers along the information superhighway?

Yesterday, we focused our attention on the rules of the road for the information superhighway. Today, let’s focus on who might be trying to hitch a ride along the way.

Now, drive along any highway and you’re likely to see at least one hitchhiker. While you might be tempted to lend a helping hand, I’ll bet you recall the words your momma told you about not picking up hitchhikers. Interestingly enough, there are also hitchhikers along our information superhighway. However, they tend to be a little sneakier and hitch rides without us knowing it. A particular nasty activity that they engage in is called session hijacking.

As we mentioned, TCP/IP is the “rules of the road” that our computers use when communicating with each other. A session hijacker will block a session (think conversation) between two users and replace the legitimate information with his/her own. How nasty!

In other words, for example, session hijacking allows the hitchhiker to take over a web user’s session and then masquerade as the authorized user. Once the masquerade works, guess what – the hitchhiker can do anything that the authorized user can do. So, imagine you’re on the computer with your BFF. In this example, someone else would take over the conversation, posing as your BFF, without you knowing it. And that person would be privy to all the information that you and your BFF shared in what you thought was information only between the two of you.

So, how can you tell if a hitchhiker is trying to catch a ride? Well, if a website starts acting in a weird fashion or in a fashion which you’ve never experienced before, this could be the problem. Or, worse yet, if the website isn’t accessible at all, it’s possible that a hitchhiker might be up to no good. This isn’t always the case, but could be a possibility.

Just note that while our information superhighway is awesome, the wisdom that your momma bestowed upon you about not picking up strangers is still valid today…even in cyberspace.