What is Click Hijacking?

Click Hijacking, otherwise known as click-jacking or click interception, is a fraudulent method employed by cybercriminals, in which they manipulate a user’s activity by capturing unauthorised click triggers. It is often carried out underneath the cloak of legitimate operations. Culprits mask malicious links or buttons within a webpage’s legitimate components, misleading users to click on unintended items or advertisements. Once a user clicks on them, traffic gets redirected to a third party website or an advertisement, often facilitating the perpetrator’s profit. In effect, click hijacking hampers the user experience and can negatively affect the financial economics of an ecommerce business.

Formula

Click hijacking is often hard to measure since it involves illicit activity. However, potential indicators can be unusual drops in conversion rates or sudden changes in advertisement click rates.

Example

Imagine an ecommerce platform with a “Buy Now” button. An attacker could place a hidden and clickable transparent layer over that button. So, whenever the user tries to make a transaction, they end up clicking on some hidden advertisement or link, redirecting them to unintended third-party domains.

Why is Click Hijacking important?

Click hijacking can significantly impact an online business. It leads to website traffic loss, decreased sales, poor user experience, brand reputation damage, and potential financial losses. Moreover, websites that fall victim to click hijacking may also face penalties from search engines, including downgraded optimization rates.

Which factors impact Click Hijacking?

To combat click hijacking, ecommerce businesses should frequently monitor and analyze their website’s user activity and traffic patterns. They should also employ advanced cybersecurity solutions, provide regular security updates and patches, and ensure the website code is clean and free from vulnerabilities.

How can Click Hijacking be improved?

Click hijacking can be impacted by various factors such as higher-priced ads (which attract fraudsters), the security quality of a website, the type and complexity of malicious software employed, and the level of user awareness about such practices.

What is Click Hijacking’s relationship with other metrics?

Click hijacking can drastically affect several ecommerce metrics such as conversion rates, page views, and repeat traffic. Since hijacked clicks lead users away from your site or distract them from intended actions, metrics like the conversion rate might suddenly drop. Similarly, because the user experience is hindered, the likelihood of repeat visits may decrease, impacting repeat traffic metrics.