Hackers can now implement techniques allowing browser cookies to be stolen. Websites store cookies on the user’s devices with confidential data. Hackers gain access to these cookies to steal user data and launch further cyberattacks to cause damage.
Most activities involved in stealing browser cookies are related to cybercriminals gaining access to the user’s network or the user’s device itself. If a web server is not secure enough, hackers can steal browser cookies from there as well.
In such attacks, the user logs into a specific web application, and the web server creates a session in the user’s browser via cookies. Cookies help the remote server remember personal information about the user. If a hacker manages to find the user’s session ID, stealing browser cookies becomes easier. The most common way hackers get session IDs is by making the target click on a malicious link with a compromised session ID or by stealing session cookies. Once hackers have the session ID information, web servers can be tricked into thinking the hacker’s connection is actually that of the target individual.
Once connected, the hacker effectively hijacks the session. After that, hackers are free to carry out activities that the target user is only allowed to do. The most common techniques to steal browser cookies include malware infection for packet sniffing, brute force to find out the session ID, cross-site scripting and session sniffing (carried out via a packet sniffer).
As for the harms of stealing browser cookies, it all depends on the website in question. With stolen browser cookies, hackers can potentially steal company data and online identities, transfer funds (if the browser cookies belong to the user’s banking service) and launch ransomware attacks. If the target is an organization instead of a single user, hackers can compromise entire financial systems, intellectual property data and customer databases.