What is the primary objective of session hijacking techniques described here?

What is the primary objective of session hijacking techniques described here?

• A. To impersonate the user in an active session
• B. To steal passwords during login
• C. To perform a Denial of Service attack
• D. To modify website content

Answer: (A)

Session hijacking aims to take over an active authenticated session so the attacker can act as the legitimate user without needing to log in again. The core objective is impersonation: by obtaining the user’s session token or cookie, the attacker gains the same access rights and can perform actions on behalf of the user, effectively continuing a live session as if they were that user. This focus on using an already-authenticated session distinguishes it from stealing passwords, which targets credentials at login, or DoS attacks, which disrupt availability. It also differs from content modification, which targets changing what users see rather than gaining the user’s privileges. In practice, attackers exploit weaknesses in session management or capture tokens to replay or reuse a session, making proper protections around session handling essential—such as securing cookies, using TLS, rotating session IDs, and monitoring for unusual session activity.

Session hijacking aims to take over an active authenticated session so the attacker can act as the legitimate user without needing to log in again. The core objective is impersonation: by obtaining the user’s session token or cookie, the attacker gains the same access rights and can perform actions on behalf of the user, effectively continuing a live session as if they were that user.

This focus on using an already-authenticated session distinguishes it from stealing passwords, which targets credentials at login, or DoS attacks, which disrupt availability. It also differs from content modification, which targets changing what users see rather than gaining the user’s privileges. In practice, attackers exploit weaknesses in session management or capture tokens to replay or reuse a session, making proper protections around session handling essential—such as securing cookies, using TLS, rotating session IDs, and monitoring for unusual session activity.