The holiday shopping season brings a surge in online traffic and web application activity. Organisations running e-commerce portals, customer portals, or seasonal microsites face an elevated risk of web application attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and session hijacking. These attacks aim to extract sensitive customer data, manipulate transactions, or damage brand trust. For executives, ensuring robust web application security before Christmas is essential, it protects both customer confidence and corporate reputation.
Attackers target vulnerabilities in web applications that fail to validate or sanitise user input. Common techniques include SQL injection (injecting malicious code into backend databases), cross-site scripting (injecting code into websites viewed by users), and insecure direct object references (manipulating URLs or parameters to access restricted data). When successful, these attacks can expose customer details, payment data, or internal business logic.
During the festive period, attackers take advantage of high-volume web traffic and rushed development cycles. Promotional microsites, temporary landing pages, and third-party integrations often bypass normal security testing. Attackers also exploit outdated content management systems (CMS) and plugins, gaining administrative access to modify website content or insert malicious scripts.
Australian retailers and service providers have faced a steady increase in web application attacks during the December–January period. In 2022, an Australian online gift store suffered a breach when attackers exploited a vulnerable WordPress plugin, exposing thousands of customer records. Similarly, a hospitality group’s booking portal was compromised through an unpatched SQL vulnerability. Fortunately, stolen credit card data remained tokenised, however historical booking records and employee credentials were accessed leading to reputational damage.
The ACSC’s Cyber Threat Report emphasises that small and medium businesses, which often rely on third-party web hosting or outsourced development, are particularly vulnerable to such attacks. These incidents frequently result in privacy breaches under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and mandatory reporting obligations.
While web application attacks often exploit design flaws rather than endpoints, the Essential Eight controls significantly strengthen overall resilience:
The Essential Eight should be complemented by secure coding practices, web application firewalls (WAFs), and continuous vulnerability scanning for optimal protection.
By aligning Essential Eight maturity with sound web security hygiene, executives can ensure that their organisation’s digital storefront stays merry, bright, and uncompromised throughout the festive season.
