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Web defacement refers specifically to the act of altering a website's content in an unauthorized and malicious manner. This typically involves an attacker gaining access to a website, often through exploiting vulnerabilities, and then modifying the displayed content to convey a message, promote propaganda, or simply demonstrate their hacking skills. The alterations can often be visible to any visitor accessing the compromised site.

In contrast, other terms refer to different concepts within cybersecurity. Drive-by downloads involve the unintentional downloading of malicious software without user consent when a user visits a compromised website. Content rewriting is not a widely recognized term within the cybersecurity community and lacks a precise definition. Malicious injection usually refers to a broader category of attacks, including SQL injection or Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), where attackers insert malicious code to manipulate or compromise web applications, but it doesn’t specifically denote altering site content as web defacement does.

Understanding web defacement helps in recognizing the importance of backend security measures and maintaining the integrity of digital content.