Cyberattacks can target a wide range of victims, from individual to enterprises.
Cyberattacks also become more sophisticated these days. This increases the need for more comprehensive cybersecurity strategy and tools used. Especially with the shift to cloud and various forms of connected devices, we all need to modernize and strengthen our digital security capabilities.
Attacks#
Cybersecurity threats can come in many forms. These are the five most common types of cyberattacks these days:
Denial-of-Service (DoS)#
This is usually a targetted attack which try to floods a network with false requests in order to disrupt business operations.
During a DoS attack, legitimate users are no able to perform routine and necessary tasks. While most DoS attacks do not result in lost data, they cost the organization time, money and other resources in order to restore critical business operations.
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM)#
A MitM, aka monkey-in-the-middle, is a type of cyberattack in which a malicious user eavesdrops on the network connections between the 2 victims.
The attacker intercept, reads, and can even change the data being sent/receive, without any notice by both victims.
MitM can work by interception, reading, and relay (or alteration) with many techniques. Such as Wi-Fi eavesdropping, IP/ARP spooding, or even SSL/TLS stripping.
Malware#
Malware is short for malicious software. It is built to do harm, discupt, or steal data from a divce or network without your knowledge.
Malware can come in the forms of viruses, worms, trojans, ransomewares, and spywares.
Ransomware#
Ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) that locks or encrypts a victim’s files, devices, or networks, holding them hostage.
It denies the legitimate users from access to their business system. The attacker then demands a payment (a ransom), usually in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the key needed to restore access or not to disclose the private and confidential information.
A ransomware attack is designed to exploit system vulnerabilities and access the network. Once infected, ransomware will either block access to the hard drive or encrypt important files on the system. Sometime, the hacker may make a copy of those sensitive and configential information.
Phishing#
Phishing is a type of cyberattack where scammers trick people into sharing private information, by pretenting to be a trusted party through emails, SMS, or fake websites.
It may also guide users to download a malicious file (malware) that will install trojans on a computer or phone.
There are many forms of phishing, including mass phishing, spear phishing, smishing, vishing, or quishing (QR phishing).