Internet security comes in many different forms. When HTML5 was announced as the soon-to-be new standard, a lot of people got excited. Flash is one of the most vulnerable protocols to be found on the web, yet so many platforms rely on Flash to show video content. But HTML5 is not without its flaws either, despite the enhancements it offers for building new applications.
Why You Should Be Careful Around HTML5 Webpages
One thing people need to keep in mind is how HTML5 was first introduced in early 2014, yet it has still not become the Internet’s new standard. Over the past two years, various site owners switched to this new technology, but criminals also had their chance to experiment with the coding. That is unsurprising, as any new technology made freely available will attract good and bad actors.
Unfortunately, experts were predicting some key issues for HTML5 even before the standard was officially introduced. Although this new language focuses on how web pages look and feel, it is also a way to make the user experience more interactive. To do so, HTML5 offers new functionalities, including messaging enhancements and native multimedia support.
What this new internet standard does well is eliminating the need for browser plugins. One can never be sure if the installed plugin only does what it describes, or also logs sensitive browser information in the background. This toolkit is so powerful that it even allows for mobile applications to be built on top of the protocol.
A variety of attack vectors has been identified in recent years, all of which stem forth from the adoption of HTML5. Cyber criminals are still capable of injecting code into webpages, which can create all kinds of problems.This particular issue is known as Cross-Origin Resource Sharing, and it can be used to access data as an external party.
Cross-site Scripting attacks, also known as XSS attacks, have been a significant threat to Internet platforms for several years now. The introduction of HTML5 does not solve this problem, unfortunately, and it is still possible to run malicious code through unvalidated user inputs. Moreover, some HTML5 script tags can be used to bypass user input filters altogether. This is not the most secure course of action by any means.
Perhaps the biggest attack vector, however, is how browsers now store and remove data locally. This method is also vulnerable to the XSS attacks, as mentioned above. It is equally possible to mess around with a site’s DNS cache, which lets criminals redirect users to phishing sites and other platforms hosting malicious code. With a good web developer taking care of things, most of these issues will be addressed in time, though.
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