Auditing Defense against XSS Worms in Online Social Network-Based Web Applications

Abstract

Nowadays, users of Online Social Network (OSN) are less familiar with cyber security threats that occur in such networks, comprising Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) worms, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, Phishing, etc. Numerous defensive methodologies exist for mitigating the effect of DDoS attacks and Phishing vulnerabilities from OSN. However, till now, no such robust defensive solution is proposed for the complete alleviation of XSS worms from such networks. This chapter discusses the detailed incidences of XSS attacks in the recent period on the platforms of OSN. A high level of taxonomy of XSS worms is illustrated in this article for the precise interpretation of its exploitation in multiple applications of OSN like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. We have also discussed the key contributions of current defensive solutions of XSS attacks on the existing platforms of OSN. Based on this study, we identified the current performance issues in these existing solutions and recommend future research guidelines.