Defacing a Website
by Sue Basko
Defacing a website is when hackers change what viewers can see on a website. They usually deface the home page, so the defacement is obvious. The defacers might change words, add a video or a photo. Defacing is usually done as some sort of protest. Defacing is often funny. Sometimes it is more serious. Defacing is illegal against the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act).
Defacing can be done several ways. To do any defacing, the hacker has to be adding or changing the code that controls what is shown on the site. For example, if the hacker is able to get the password for the site, they can go in and change whatever they want. Another way is to inject some new code into the existing code. For example, injecting in the embed code for a video that is on youtube. You have probably embedded videos many times. In a deface, you are simply embedding it onto someone else's site.
Another way to do a deface is to change the information at the domain registry, so that traffic to the site is diverted to a different site. Then the first site is not really defaced, but you have tricked people into thinking it is.
It is possible to hack into and deface things besides websites. That can be done to things like digital or TV displays in stores, digital signs anywhere, TV station signals, and more.
Keep in mind, defacing is illegal, and so is sharing a password so someone else can deface a site.