Cyber-attacks are becoming increasingly frequent and sophisticated. The goal of any cyber attack is to gain access to your network and data.

In this blog post, I will walk you through the most common types of cyber-attacks and give some tips on how to prevent them!

What is a Cyber Attack?

A cyber attack is basically an online attack where the intruder tries to gain unauthorized access to an IT system with the purpose of theft, forgery, disruption, or other malicious reasons. 

There might be times when numerous security incidents are caused by insiders only, these can be because of some negligence, but for the sake of your important files and data, it is always better to have your IT system password protected and add some other preventive measures too. 

Malware 

It is a type of activity that can easily perform a variety of malicious tasks with no intimation to the user. There are even some strains of malware that are specially designed to create persistent access to the network, while some are designed to spy on some users, this is carried out with the intention to steal some valuable data front the user without having them any intimation about it or just to cause some disruption into their system. 

The most notable form of malware is ransomware, which is a program that is designed to encrypt some of the victim’s files or data or both and then asks them to pay some ransom for the exchange. 

Phishing

Phishing is an attempt by hackers to trick you into providing personal or sensitive information online by pretending to be a legitimate company. They may send emails that look like they’re from your bank or another trusted institution, asking you to click on links or download attachments containing malware that can then infect your computer or mobile device.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM)

A man-in-the-middle attack, aka MITM, is a type of attack when the attacker somehow intercepts the information between two parties or individuals with the intention to spy on the victims, steal some of their assets or credentials, or sometimes even alter the conversation to use it for their own malicious purposes. 

MITM attacks are a little less common these days, the reason being, most email and chat systems are created with end-to-end encryption that protects your data from any such attacks or intruders. Such encryption also prevents any third party from tampering with your data and other files with the data that is transmitted across the network. 

SQL Injection Attack

SQL injection attack is a technique used to exploit the database of a web application. The attacker injects SQL queries into Web application input data to manipulate the database of the application.

SQL injection attacks can be used to compromise any system that uses an SQL database. This includes websites and mobile apps, but also many other systems that rely on databases for their core functions (for example, ERP and CRM systems).

Zero-Day Exploit 

This is when the attackers learn about their targeted organization or individual being vulnerable to certain widely used software applications or operating systems. So this is the time when they target this vulnerability and exploit them. 

To prevent your systems and yourself from such attacks, don’t rely on traditional antivirus software, instead, opt for the next-generation antivirus software so that you can successfully prevent attackers to install any unwanted and harmful software on your system. 

Business Email Compromise 

BEC, business email compromise is when the attacker targets particular individuals, this is mainly those employees who have the potential to authorize the financial documents or transactions of a firm. This way they can trick them to transfer their desired amount of money to them. 

Such plans usually require proper planning and organization so that it is carried out perfectly they need to extract some specific information about the firm, its employees, potential business partners, and some other aspects. Lets see how to protect your business from cyber attacks

To get protection from such acts, it is advised to undertake training programs to be aware of such attacks and intruders. Employees are trained in such a way that they can recognize which email is from their actual clients and which is a fake one. 

Social Engineering Attack

Social engineering attacks are based on human nature and can be very effective. They target people’s vulnerabilities, such as greed and fear. To carry out these attacks, hackers will use deception to get people to give up information about their organization or company that could give them access to sensitive information.

To prevent this type of attack from happening again, cyber security monitoring technology must be used right away so we can catch any suspicious activity before it goes too far!

Password Attack 

The most common one and the one we all are quite aware of. This one is the type of attack when the attackers try to guess your account password. They can apply various techniques to crack your password and then use it on your account without your authorization. 

To avoid such attacks and to prevent your account from being hacked, make sure you choose a password strong enough that is unpredictable by anyone, even your knowns because you never know. You can try adding some special characters to your password like #$%. This will make your password even harder to crack. 

Denial-of-service Attack

A denial-of-service attack occurs when a malicious party attempts to disrupt the normal function of a system. This can happen in many ways but typically involves flooding the system with traffic so that it cannot complete its intended functions.

The most common methods of achieving this are through:

  • Sending large amounts of requests to a server overwhelms the ability of the server to respond appropriately.
  • Flooding servers with spam email messages or other types of messages that clog up inboxes and limit resources on computers or networks.

Spear Phishing Attack

Spear phishing is the most common form of cyber attack. This type of attack involves sending a carefully crafted message to a specific individual, often a member of the target’s organization. The message is designed to appear as if it is from a legitimate source and often contains information that will appeal to its target.

According to the experts at Connectwise, “Spear phishing is generally easier to detect than other types of attacks because it uses personal information about an individual or group within an organization.”

If someone does receive this type of suspicious email and clicks on any links or attachments in the message, they are likely infected with malware which allows hackers access into their system and potentially steals data from them—including passwords that can be used again later in similar attacks against other victims using spear phishing techniques!

These are just some of the most common types of cyber attacks that we see in the news, but there are many more. It can be hard to stay on top of all the threats out there, especially when so many new ones pop up each year. However, if you’re aware of what these attacks look like and how they work, then you will be able to defend against them much easier!




×