A cyberattack is a malicious and intentional attempt by an individual or association to break through the information system of a different person or group. In the majority of cases, the cyber attacker is usually after for some kind of gain from disrupting the victim’s network.
And as technology gets more complex by the day, so do the attack vectors that cyber crooks leverage to gain illegal and unauthorized access to an IT system. What’s more, the always-evolving nature of the cyberthreat landscape makes it quite hard for corporations to enforce safety resolutions without them becoming outdated in no time.
Understanding Cyberattacks
Well, one of the best ways for companies and individuals alike to stay ahead of cyber attackers is to understand what cybercriminals do to compromise systems. Company executives should single out the various threats that present the highest risk to the organization and roll out practical defence measures against them.
On a personal level, this information also applies to you even if you are a casual internet user who just likes to browse lightly, use social media platforms or even play online slots at casino sites. For instance, with the case of playing online games, if you don’t choose a fully licensed and certified casino website to play the latest games like the Multi Wild slot you will increase your chances of being a victim of cyberattacks.
To help you understand the basics of cybersecurity attacks, here’s an overview of some of the most common types seen today:
- Malware
Malware attacks can be defined as a kind of application or program that is intended to carry out several malicious attacks. Some strains of malicious software are intended to grant unrestricted access to a network while other strains surveil users in a bid to steal credentials or other useful information.
In other situations, malware attacks are just meant to disrupt while some are meant to extort the target in one way or another. Speaking of extorsion, Ransomware is the most common type of malicious software designed to encrypt the victim’s files, and after that ask them to pay some ransom to acquire the decryption key.
- Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack where the cyber attacker attempts to deceive an unsuspicious target into giving up useful information like credit card details, passwords, intellectual property, among others. In most cases, phishing attacks come in form of emails that seem to be from trustworthy sources.
It could be a well-known banking organization, tax department, government office or any other reliable entity. Phishing attackers aim to gain sensitive info or spread malware. Today, phishing is perhaps the most widespread form of a cybersecurity attack, mainly given that it’s simple to execute and unexpectedly efficient.
- Man-in-the-middle Attack (MITM)
A man-in-the-middle attack takes place when a cyber attacker or hacker interrupts the communication between two parties. MITM attacks are carried out to spy on the victims, steal personal credentials or data or even modify the conversation in a way.
Overall, MITM attacks normally exploit the security susceptibilities in a network, including an open public WiFi, to slot in themselves between a visitor’s device and the network. One notable problem with the man-in-the-middle attack is that it can be very hard to notice since the victim feels the information is headed to a genuine destination. In some cases, phishing or malware attacks are leveraged to perform MITM attacks.
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks
A Denial-of-Service attack is another common variety of cybersecurity attack that works by saturating computer systems, servers, websites and networks with traffic to overload resources and bandwidth. Such attacks prevent the systems from adequately processing information and completing genuine requests.
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks
While DoS cyber attacks will flood a system’s resources to impede response to service requests, DDoS attacks are initiated from several different infested host machines to attain service denial and get a system offline, hence preparing the ground for a different attack to get into the network or environment. Some of the most common denial-of-service attacks include the teardrop attack, botnets, ping-of-death attack, smurf attack, and the TCP SYN flood attack.
Vigilance is Key
Given that the complexity and the diversity of cybersecurity attacks are always on the rise we must stay sharper than ever. Similarly, because cybersecurity prevention procedures vary for every kind of attack, high-quality safety habits along with basic IT hygiene are appropriate for mitigating these cyberattacks.
Besides introducing effective cybersecurity measures, your organization must employ safe coding procedures and ensure that the latest systems and security software has been installed. It is also vital to leverage firewalls together with threat management tools/solutions and install antivirus software to keep vulnerabilities at bay.
Additionally, if you back up your systems regularly, control access and user privileges and frequently audit your IT systems for any suspicious activities your systems will be a much tougher nut for cybercriminals to crack.