Every day, we’re faced with cyber attacks. These are different types of hacking that are conducted through a computer network. The more you know about your online security, the better prepared you will be for when these attacks happen. Here’s everything you need to know about cyber attacks and the different types of them.
What is a Cyber Attack?
A cyberattack is an unwarranted attempt to disrupt the information system of another individual or organization. Usually, attackers seek some type of benefit from their attacks on a victim’s network. Cyber attacks are conducted through any computer network, whether it’s a public or private network.
The most common types of cyberattacks are viruses, phishing, and DDoS.
Types Of Cyber Attacks
Viruses
A virus is a type of malicious software that can infect any computer system and produce unwanted effects on the computer. To create a virus, hackers will use malware to gain entry into the company’s information systems. Once inside, they’ll alter the system’s files or delete important data from it. Viruses can also cause computers to freeze up or crash by holding their processing power hostage.
Phishing
A phishing attack is an attempt to acquire sensitive information such as credit card numbers, login credentials, and passwords by sending an email to your business saying you’ve won a prize or your account has been credited with money. They typically ask you to provide personal information in order to collect this money, but they never actually send you anything in return. Phishing emails typically have misspellings or grammatical errors that make them appear legitimate so people are more likely to open them and share their personal info with the hacker – unless they’re using a safe email service provider like Gmail which automatically filters out these fraudulent emails before they even reach your inbox.
DDoS
DDoS stands for distributed denial-of-service attack and it’s one of the most common types of cyberattacks today because it doesn’t require technical knowledge from hackers since anyone can perform it manually. Cybercriminals will find vulnerable networks online where they will launch DDoS.
Malware
Malware is a term used to describe malicious software, including spyware, ransomware, viruses, and worms. Malware breaches a network through vulnerabilities such as when someone clicks on an unsafe email attachment that then installs risky software. Once inside the system, malware can do any number of things in order to disrupt your computer’s functionality or data including blocking access to key components of the network, installing malware or harmful additional programs, covertly obtaining information by sending it from your hard drive, and disrupting certain functions so it becomes unusable.
DNS Tunneling
DNS Tunneling is an alternative way of communicating non-DNS traffic to a DNS server. The technology utilizes the functionality in DNS that allows it to be used as a proxy for HTTP and other protocols, such as SSH using port 53. There are many legitimate reasons people use this tool – just like there are malicious reasons why someone might choose to utilize this tool. For example, some attackers could potentially hide their data transfers by manipulating their requests through the service while they receive callbacks from abroad after compromising another system with illicit activity (i.e., command and control).
Why Cyber Attacks Happen
A cyber attack is when a malicious hacker uses a computer or computer network to access and steal information from a company, organization, or individual. These hackers can also manipulate this information for their own gain. Cyber attacks are increasing every day and there are many different types of them. Some cyberattacks include ransomware, phishing, hacking into websites to spread malware, and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
The type of cyber attack depends entirely on the motive of the attacker and how they plan on getting what they want.
If the attackers have ill intentions towards the victim’s business, it’s likely that they will be carrying out a DoS attack. The attackers will try to overwhelm their intended target with traffic so that their business cannot operate efficiently.
If the attackers do not have ill intentions but simply want to view personal information like passwords or other sensitive data that they’re not authorized to see, then it’s likely that they will be carrying out a phishing attack. Phishing attacks come in many different shapes and sizes; however, most often these attacks will be carried out by email.
In order to carry out some of these attacks successfully, hackers will take advantage of vulnerabilities in software code – called vulnerabilities because programmers make mistakes when coding – which makes it easier for them to gain access into your system and carry out damage or malicious activities.
How to Prevent Yourself from Being A Victim of a Cyber Attack
It’s important to have a strategy in place that will protect you. Here are some ways you can prevent yourself from being a victim of cyber attacks:
- Limit access to employees with access to your online accounts
- Set up an authentication process
- Use anti-virus software
- Regularly backup and update your computer systems
- Invest in a trusted firewall program for your devices