Book excerpt: A cross site scripting attack is a very specific type of attack on a web application. It is used by hackers to mimic real sites and fool people into providing personal data.XSS Attacks starts by defining the terms and laying out the ground work. It assumes that the reader is familiar with basic web programming (HTML) and JavaScript. First it discusses the concepts, methodology, and technology that makes XSS a valid concern. It then moves into the various types of XSS attacks, how they are implemented, used, and abused. After XSS is thoroughly explored, the next part provides examples of XSS malware and demonstrates real cases where XSS is a dangerous risk that exposes internet users to remote access, sensitive data theft, and monetary losses. Finally, the book closes by examining the ways developers can avoid XSS vulnerabilities in their web applications, and how users can avoid becoming a victim. The audience is web developers, security practitioners, and managers. - XSS Vulnerabilities exist in 8 out of 10 Web sites - The authors of this book are the undisputed industry leading authorities - Contains independent, bleeding edge research, code listings and exploits that can not be found anywhere else