Clickjacking

Video credit:TBYI Clickjacking – posted by The Digital Tattoo Project on YouTube

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Clickjacking, also known as “click hijacking,” or “click baiting,” is more common than you might think. When clickjacked, you are tricked into clicking an ‘invisible button,’ causing you to unintentionally endorse a product, follow a Twitter account, send spam, or something more malicious. This can also give a false impression of who you are online. There are other, more serious types of clickjack as well; watch our video to learn more.

Facebook is full of people sharing ideas and connecting with each other. Though brimming with discussion and thought, social networks can also involve people who see an opportunity to capitalize on people quick to share with others. Be wary of enticing messages, even if they seem to come from the profiles of your friends. Anything that asks you to modify your system (installation) or give out additional information can be dangerous. Make sure your browser is up to date – older versions are not as secure and are more vulnerable to clickjacking attacks. Downloadable clickjacking detection/prevention software is available (such as NoScript). If you do fall for a clickjacking attack, unlike the page and make sure there aren’t any malicious links on your profile. You may also want to post to your friends and followers about your experience.

 

Think before you ink

Have you ever been the victim of clickjacking? Maybe your Facebook page reports that you like pages that you don’t recall having seen before, or perhaps you’re unintentionally inviting your friends to watch videos and play games. These are common examples of clickjacking.

But clickjacking can be much more malicious than simple misrepresentation. Text fields can be carefully overlaid to record your password on websites designed to look authentic.

You can avoid misrepresentation and worse by being aware of the following:

  • Authentic websites use https in the address bar and won’t use clickjacking.
  • Be wary of content that takes you away from your social media network.

Discuss

The Digital Tattoo Project encourages critical discussion on topics surrounding digital citizenship and online identity. There are no correct answers and every person will view these topics from a different perspective. Be sure to complete the previous sections before answering the questions.

  • Have you ever fallen victim to a clickjacking? If so – what happened?
  • Do you think that clickjacking can impact your digital footprint?

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