Do you know that 70% of successful cyber attacks were caused by the end user? This is mostly caused by ignorance or negligence.
Why Should You Be Aware Of Cyber Attacks
Millions of people suffer daily from the ordeal of cybercrimes because they are not aware of these cybercrimes and how to prevent them.
In 2021, it was reported that Amazon suffered a financial setback of around $34 million due to a one-hour system outage that led to a considerable loss in sales.
Meta also suffered a loss of nearly $100M because of Facebook’s 2021 outage, just to mention a few case studies.
If you have ever experienced any form of Cyberattacks, this blog post is for you. Stick around to find out more.
Let’s go!
5 Common Types Of Cyber Attacks You Should Know
- Malicious Software
Malicious software are also known as “malware”. Some folks refer to them as “fishy software”
They are programs or codes designed to harm a computer, network, or server.
It is the most common type of cyber attacks. It includes ransomware, trojans, spyware, viruses, worms, keyloggers, bots, cryptojacking, and any other malicious software-based attack.
Do not download infected files as email attachments, from websites, or through filesharing activities.
Ensure you verify every source of information before you taking any action.
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks
This is another common type of cyber attack. It is an intentional, focused assault that overwhelms a network with false requests to disrupt normal business activities.
In this attack, users are unable to perform necessary tasks, such as accessing email, websites, online accounts, or other resources that are operated by a computer or network that has been compromised.
Although, most DoS attacks do not result in lost data and are typically resolved without paying a ransom, the organization losses time, money and other resources in order to restore critical business operations.
Make sure to use firewalls and IPS ( Intrusion Prevention System) to protect your network
Systems and software should be regularly updated to avoid any form of vulnerability.
- Phishing:
Phishing is one of the most common type of cyberattacks.
Emails, SMS, phone, social media, and social engineering techniques are used in luring victims to share sensitive information(passwords, account numbers or to download a malicious file that will install viruses on their computer or phone).
Let’s look at some common types of phishing attacks.
Common Types Of Phishing Attacks
Spear-phishing: This is a type of phishing attack that targets specific individuals or organizations typically through malicious emails.
Whaling attack: It is a type of social engineering attack directed at senior or C-level executive employees in an organization.
Smishing : A cybercriminal pretending to be your bank or a shipping service you use is a good example of a Smishing attack.
Vishing (voice phishing )attack: it is the fraudulent use of phone calls and voice messages to impersonate a reputable organization, convincing individuals to reveal private information such as bank details and passwords. ( One of the most common methods used in Nigeria)
To avoid Phishing Attacks, you must enable two step authentication,have a zero trust policy and do not disclose sensitive data to unidentified sources.
Tips To Avoid Phishing Attacks
- Know what a phishing scam looks like.
- Get free anti-phishing add-ons.
- Conduct security awareness training.
- Use strong passwords & enable two-factor authentication.
- Don’t ignore update messages.
- Exercise caution when opening emails or clicking on links.
- Spoofing:
This is another technique used by cybercriminals to disguises themselves as a known or trusted source.
With this method, they can engage with the target and access their systems or devices with the ultimate goal of stealing sensitive information, extorting money or installing malware or other harmful software on the device.
This type of attack can take different forms. Let’s go through some of them.
Types of Spoofing Attacks
Domain spoofing:Here an attacker impersonates a known business or person with a fake website or email domain to decive people into the trusting them.
At a glance, the domain appears to be legitimate but a closer look will reveal subtle differences.
Email spoofing :in this attack, businesses are targeted using emails with forged or fake sender addresses.
The recipient of the mail are more likely to open the email and interact with its contents, such as a malicious link or attachment.
Tips Avoid Spoofing Attacks
- Do not share work numbers
- Hang up and call back
- Check all incoming mails, phone number and calls before responding
- Stay behind a firewall
- Have a robust verification
ARP Spoofing (Address Resolution Protocol): It is used to intercept data. A hacker commits an ARP spoofing attack by tricking one device into sending messages to the hacker instead of the intended recipient.
This way, the hacker gains unauthorized access to your device’s communications, including sensitive data.
- Identity-Based Attacks:
Statistics show that 80% of all breaches use compromised identities which can take up to 250 days to identify.crowdstrike.com.
These type attacks are extremely hard to detect. When a valid user’s credentials have been compromised and an attacker is impersonating the user, it is often very difficult to differentiate between the user’s typical behavior and that of the hacker using traditional security measures and tools.
Below are some common identity-based attacks include:
Types Of Identity- Based Attacks
Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attack : this is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker eavesdrops on a conversation between two target.
The goal is to access personal data, passwords or banking details, as well as convincing the victim to take an action such as changing login credentials, completing a transaction or initiating a transfer of funds.
Pass-the-Hash Attack (PtH) : is a type of attack in which an attacker steals a “hashed” user credential and uses it to create a new user session on the same network.This attack uses a stored version of the password to initiate a new session.
Golden Ticket Attack : Here an attacker attempt to gain unlimited access to an organization’s domain by accessing user data stored in Microsoft Active Directory (AD) by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Kerberos identity authentication protocol. This allows adversaries to bypass authentication methods.
Credential Harvesting: cybercriminals gather user credentials such as IDs, email addresses, passwords, and other login information in masse to then access systems, gather sensitive data, or sell it in the dark web.
Credential Stuffing Attacks : This is common when people often use the same user ID and password across multiple accounts.
Password Spraying: it involve a threat actor using a single common password against multiple accounts on the same application.
Brute Force Attacks : An attacker uses a trial-and-error approach to systematically guess login credentials, and encryption keys. He/She submits a combination of usernames and passwords until they finally guess correctly.
Downgrade Attacks: These are a cyberattack where the attacker takes advantage of a system’s backward compatibility to force it into less secure modes of operation, such as forcing a user to go into an HTTP version of a website instead of HTTPS
Tips To Prevent Cyber Attacks
- Ensure Your system is Up-to-date
- Use Full Service Internet Security Suite
- Use a Secure Internet Connection
- Use Strong Password.
- Be Aware of Pop-ups and Fraudulent Emails
- Protect yourself from identity threats
- Manage Your Social Media Settings
- Get the Right Cyber Insurance Policy.l
Final Thoughts
Information is very crucial in the world we are living in today. What you do not know, may cause great harm.
This is the true, when it comes to Cyberattacks. Millions across the world have lost business, monies and even there lives due to cyber attack.
Moreso, new threats are discovered regularly and cyber criminals are improving on their malicious schemes daily.
