The prevailing century is the generation of cyber world. The speedy and surprising developments with in the cyber sphere have made our life way more comfortable and easy than we could have ever imagined. The entire world has realised that ‘data is the new oil’ and data is now considered to be one of the most valuable resources. However, every coin has its flip side too. The increased value of data and technology has also given rise to cyber attacks. Cyber attack is like an assault launched on a computer or some part of its data by a hacker. There are various forms and types of cyber attacks that can infect your system and compromise your cyber safety, your data and your privacy. Some of the common types of cyber attacks are listed below-
1. Man In The Middle/Eavesdropping attack :
In this, the attacker purposefully taps in on important conversations between 2 or more individuals, eavesdrops on the conversation and gathers the information that was supposed to be private and undisclosed. This information can also be sensitive and of high-level. Thus, this kind of attack completely compromises the privacy of an individual or/and an organisation.
2. Malware :
Malware is a short for malicious software which includes spyware, ransomware, viruses, and worms.Typically for the profit of a third party, malware is a program made to access computer systems without the user’s knowledge. Malware infiltrates a network by exploiting a weakness, frequently when a user follows a risky link or email attachment that subsequently installs hazardous software. One of the most common types of Malware is Ransomware. Ransomware seizes control of an entire computer system or some part of it until the victim pays a ransom. Data on the computer is encrypted by ransomware using cryptographic keys that the user is unaware of. In order to access the information back, the user must pay the cyber criminals the demanded ransom. The victim can start utilising their system again only once the asked amount has been paid.
3. Zero-day exploit :
There is a window of time after a network vulnerability is disclosed before a patch or fix is applied. This is a very sensitive window frame. Hackers and attackers are often on lookout for such sensitive windows. When these windows occur, they use the limited time frame to exploit and manipulate the data.
4. SQL injection :
When an attacker enters malicious code into a server that utilises SQL(a programming language) , it is known as a SQL injection. Only when a software security flaw exists in an application can SQL injections be successful. Thus, attackers are on lookout for SQL vulnerabilities and whenever they spot one, they use SQL Injection. In such a scenario, a server is forced to give admission to or edit, update,add or delete data as a result of successful SQL injections.
5. Phishing :
Phishing attacks aim to deceive people into disclosing important information or login credentials. The attacker’s objective can vary, but popular targets include streaming services, mail and internet service providers, and financial organisations. They are frequently sent via spam email. The majority of attacks are “bulk attacks,” which are distributed in mass to a large audience without being targeted. The access or information that has been taken could be used to spear phish employees or install malware. Online black markets are often the places where attackers sell this information and data.
6. Hijacking A Session :
Every time you open any site, you accept some cookies that are mandatory. However, your session can be hijacked too by ‘session hijacking’.It is a security breach on a protected network that targets a user session. Cookies are created here very specifically by web applications to keep track of user sessions, their actions, the site they are opening, their personal information, etc. An attacker can gain access to all this user data by stealing the cookies.
7. Brute force :
It is an offensive cyber attack style that relies on trial and error methods. In order to obtain actual data, such as a user password,I ID number, important passcodes,etc., this technique creates a huge number of guesses and then validates them until and unless these guesses turn out to be true.Criminals may use this technique to decrypt encrypted data, or security experts may use it to evaluate the network security of an enterprise. In this, hackers often use various apps and services like Abel, John the Ripper, Hashcat, etc. to crack your password.
8. Disruption of Service :
It is an attack designed to prevent people from accessing a server or network resource. It does this by providing information that causes a crash or by bombarding the target with traffic. To attack a server, it makes use of a single system and internet connection. It can be divided into the categories of Volume-based attacks , Protocol attack and Attack at the application layer.
9. Crypto-jacking :
One of the most recent forms of cyber attacks that has developed is crypto jacking. The phrase “Cryptojacking” has a lot in common with cryptocurrencies. When hackers get access to another person’s computer to mine cryptocurrencies, this is known as cryptojacking. By infecting a website or tricking the victim into clicking on a malicious link or advertisement,access is achieved. Since the Crypto mining code operates in the background, the only indication that a victim might see is a delay in execution. Thus, even before the victim knows, their entire cryptocurrency is compromised.
In order to prevent yourself from being a target of any such unwanted cyber attack, it is very important for you to ensure that you take all the adequate measures of cyber security. Your data is your responsibility. Thus, in order to keep your data safe from these variety of attacks and to prevent intrusion, tampering, reverse-engineering, and malware attacks, you can start by building your own or signing up for some Security and Monitoring service console that helps you preserve and protect your precious data. We hope you have Safe surfing experience by taking all the necessary precautions to shield yourself from cyber attacks and strengthen your digital security!
