WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF CYBER ATTACKS? CYBER SECURITY THREATS AND PREVENTION METHODS

Last updated: August 31, 2023

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Introduction

The internet is probably one of the greatest creations till now, and still, it is evolving day by day. In this modern era, almost the maximum work is being done online. Still, somewhere this dependency on the internet for businesses and other works also has some disadvantages at the same time. 

Each and everything has some vulnerabilities which lead to some illicit actions. In the same way, the internet has some loopholes through which the attackers get a chance to establish their connection with the ongoing work on the internet through which they can access the desired information. 

Nowadays, different kinds of attacks are done by intruders online, and one of the most vicious online attacks is a cyber-attack. Let’s see what it is.

Table of Contents:

What is a cyber-attack?

Cyber-attacks are abusive online attacks that directly target computer information, system, network, smart devices, and much more to access the desired information through them. Cyber-attacks involve stealing data, modification of sensitive information, or destroying the data. Cyber-attacks are getting very sophisticated and dangerous because they can harm the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. These online attacks are attempts to breach the system’s security and gain unauthorized access to the computer system. 

People who are attempting cyber-attacks are generally referred to as cybercriminals. They can be a member of certain criminal organizations or criminal syndicates and also get the proper training to carry out illegal online actions. Attacks are designed to cause damage to online activities, and attackers have various objectives behind them like financial gain, disruption, gain unauthorized access, etc. 

But there is a way to avoid all these thefts and to punish the culprits, i.e., CYBER LAWS. It is also known as IT LAWS. It includes laws regarding thefts, fraud, mischief, and all unethical activities online. It covers all the transactions, exploitation of users, data misuse, etc.

Interested in a Cyber Security certification course? Register now for Cyber Security Online Training offered by ‘Mindmajix – A Global online training platform’.

Types of cyber attacks

There are various types of cyber-attacks with certain objectives. Here are some most common types of attacks that take place often.

  1. Malware: Malware is an abbreviation for malicious software which is intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, client, or any network to access confidential information or authorization. It is strongly used against the government or corporate websites to collect secured information. A special type of program is designed to monitor the user’s activity on the internet, display unsolicited advertisements, etc. It involves viruses, spy, and spyware.
  1. Phishing: It is the most common form of spam. It spreads through email, chats, web ads, or websites. It is generally used to steal data or some confidential information like credit card numbers. It occurs when one person is pretending to be the legitimate person, and then the user is trapped into clicking a malicious link or ad, which can lead to the injection of malware into the system.
  1. DOS Attack: DOS stands for Denial Of Service attack. A DOS attack is meant to shut down the website/server or system by overloading it by the bombardment of requests and traffic at the same time so that the server becomes unable to provide intended services to the client. The main objectives of this attack are to make the service inaccessible to the intended user/client. It can trigger the crash of the system. 

There are two general methods of DOS attack: Flooding services and Crashing services.

  1. SQL Injection: It is a type of attack which makes it possible to execute any malicious SQL statements. This SQL injection may affect any web applications that use different databases like MY SQL, ORACLE, SQL Server, etc. In this attack, the attacker uses a piece of code to modify the database and gain unauthorized and valuable information.
  1. Brute Force Attack: this attack mainly works on the hit and trial method to guess the login info. Encryption keys or passwords. Depending on the length and complexity, the experienced attackers crack the password in just a few seconds which can lead to stealing personal information, hacking your system, or any other action against your system security management. It is an old method but still in practice on a regular basis by the attackers.
  1. MITM Attack: This stands for Man In The Middle attack. This type of attack includes the third party as well. In this process, the client is introduced to some kind of meeting between the two parties by a malicious individual, and while sharing the data between two parties, the attacker gets a chance to steal the information. The main objective of this attack is to achieve access to confidential data by making the two clients fool.
  1. Cross-site scripting: It is also known as XSS. This cyber-attack mainly targets executing or injecting some intended malicious script in a web browser of the victim through some legitimate website or web applications. And the actual attack occurs when the user visits that website, then the code is executed, and the attacker is now enabled to act their illegal action. The attackers can also modify the content of the website using this script which can lead to the bad reputation of websites.
  1. Eavesdropping: This attack is termed “spoofing and sniffing.” Eavesdropping is an action of monitoring the victim’s data transmission. This attack occurs when an intruder deletes, modifies, or intercepts information that is transmitted between the devices. It takes place due to vulnerability in-network when the data transmission is occurring in an open network without any encryption method.

Cyber Security Threats 

Cyber security threats are malicious, intentional attacks by any individual, organization, or team to get access to unauthorized information meant to breach system security, steal data, disrupt network infrastructure, etc. 

Following are some most common types of cyberattacks:

  1. Password Attack: Getting access to the right password by the attacker can lead to certain damage to the personal public data. Password attack breaches security and bypass all the authorization and authentication process on a system. Cybercriminals do not have to get through struggles while hacking clients’ passwords.
  1. Emotet: Emotet is one of the most long-lasting and professional cybercrime services. This type of attack is also known as a “loader” operation. It is a very different way of targeting networks by spreading the threat after getting access to just a few devices in a network. MOTET infrastructure involves hundreds of servers situated across the world.
  1. DNS Attack: The Domain Name System attack targets the vulnerabilities of the network’s DNS and exploits them for their good. DNS attacks leverage DNS as its mechanism as part of its overall attack strategy. 
  1. Ransomware Attack: Ransomware is a kind of malicious software that uses the encryption technique to block the access of data from the user, and in return, it demands a Ransomware fee. Sometimes it also provides a deadline to the user or threatens the client to misuse the data against him/her.
  1. Malware attack: Malware attacks are malicious software code designed to target the client’s system and modify the data. Its main objective is to steal information, credentials, payments information, etc. There are numerous kinds of malware used by cybercrime. (Trojan horse, Viruses, Worms, etc.). It is very harmful as it can damage the entire server, network, victim’s system, and infrastructure without end-user knowledge.

Prevention Methods against Cyber Threats 

  1. Keep your software and system fully up to date.
  2. Train your staff and employees to utilize the internet securely that never provides chances for cybercriminals to attack.
  3. Control the access of your system and smart devices so that anonymous can’t get access to any of your sensitive and confidential information at any cost.
  4. Install firewalls in each system that can resist the outsider attackers, and it shields the system or network from malicious and unwanted traffic.
  5. Back up your data to the clouds or any other secure place, which will help you fetch it from anywhere even if your system is attacked.
  6. Secure your devices with a strong and complex password. Password protection just sustains the security of the entire infrastructure, including the devices, apps, data, network, and everything.
  7. Install malware scanner to the system which keeps scanning for the solicited viruses, worms, Trojan horse, etc., and gives you warning to save your data instantly.
  8.  Use encryption techniques that will not enable the hacker to achieve your statics, data, business figures and will keep it secure. Encryption makes the information in a coded format so that no outsider can gain it.

Conclusion

Cyber-security is a never-ending battle that permanently keeps deceiving the users of the internet. The system is safe from cyber threats or any other illegal activity until and unless it is not connected to the internet. And as our world is transforming to digitalization, every individual and activity is getting closer to risk and insecurities. Cyber-security problems are resulting in negative ways in IT, which leads the government to implement CYBER LAWS. Cyber laws include the unethical operations performed by any individual or organization for an intended purpose. Cyber-law involves theft, fraud, defamation, mischief, etc.

But apart from this, the user should stay secure by its side to avoid attacks from the intruders or from the malicious intended actions to keep their system, business, statics, figures, and as well themselves secure. If you also want to learn about simple ways to protect your organization from cyberattacks, visit one of our articles about the topic.

Author Bio Sai Priya Ravuri is a Digital Marketer, and a passionate writer, who is working with MindMajix, a top global online training provider. She also holds in-depth knowledge of IT and demanding technologies such as Business Intelligence, Salesforce, Cybersecurity, Software Testing, QA, Data analytics, Project Management and ERP tools, etc.

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