Life today has become far more comfortable because of various digital devices and the internet to support them. There is a flip side to everything good, and that also applies to the digital world today. The internet has brought a positive change in our lives today, but with that, there is also an enormous challenge in protecting your data. This gives rise to cyber attacks. In this article, we will discuss the different types of cyber-attacks and how they can be prevented.
What is a Cyberattack?
Before heading to the different types of cyber attacks, we will first walk you through a cyber attack. When there is unauthorized system/network access by a third party, we term it a cyber attack. The person who carries out a cyberattack is termed a hacker/attacker.
Cyber-attacks have several negative effects. When an attack is carried out, it can lead to data breaches, resulting in data loss or data manipulation. Organizations incur financial losses, customer trust gets hampered, and there is reputational damage. To put a curb on cyberattacks, we implement cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is the method of safeguarding networks, computer systems, and their components from unauthorized digital access.
The COVID-19 situation has also had an adverse impact on cybersecurity. According to Interpol and WHO, there has been a notable increase in the number of cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Banner 3
Types of Cyberattacks
- Malware Attack
This is one of the most common types of cyberattacks. “Malware” refers to malicious software viruses including worms, spyware, ransomware, adware, and trojans.
The trojan virus disguises itself as legitimate software. Ransomware blocks access to the network’s key components, whereas Spyware is software that steals all your confidential data without your knowledge. Adware is software that displays advertising content such as banners on a user’s screen.
Malware breaches a network through a vulnerability. When the user clicks a dangerous link, it downloads an email attachment or when an infected pen drive is used.
- Phishing Attack
Phishing attacks are one of the most prominent widespread types of cyberattacks. It is a type of social engineering attack wherein an attacker impersonates to be a trusted contact and sends the victim fake emails.
Unaware of this, the victim opens the mail and clicks on the malicious link or opens the mail’s attachment. By doing so, attackers gain access to confidential information and account credentials. They can also install malware through a phishing attack.
- Password Attack
It is a form of attack wherein a hacker cracks your password with various programs and password cracking tools like Aircrack, Cain, Abel, John the Ripper, Hashcat, etc. There are different types of password attacks like brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, and keylogger attacks.
- Man-in-the-Middle Attack
A Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM) is also known as an eavesdropping attack. In this attack, an attacker comes in between a two-party communication, i.e., the attacker hijacks the session between a client and host. By doing so, hackers steal and manipulate data.
As seen below, the client-server communication has been cut off, and instead, the communication line goes through the hacker.