What Is a Cyber Attack? Types? And How to Prevent It | Free Antivirus

 

First: What is a  cyber attack or cyber-attacks?  

A cyber attack is a global penetration of computer systems, networks, and technology-dependent companies. This leads to devastating consequences that can harm your data and spread cybercrimes such as information and identity theft. 

Second: The most prominent types of cyber attacks

1- Phishing attacks

Phishing is a type of social engineering commonly used to steal data such as credit card numbers and login credentials. It occurs when an attacker, posing as a trusted person, tricks the victim into opening a text message, email, or instant message. The victim is then tricked into opening a malicious link that could cause the system to shut down as part of a ransomware attack, which in turn leads to the disclosure of sensitive information or the installation of malicious software.

This breach can have disastrous consequences. On the individual level, this includes identity theft, money theft, or unauthorized purchases.

Phishing is often used to gain a foothold in government or corporate networks as part of a large scam scheme such as Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). In such a case, employees are bargained with to gain access to important data, hack it and then exploit it for money, as well as spread malware in a closed environment, and circumvent security standards.

2- Phishing attacks

Targeted phishing is an email message targeted at a person or organization, with the purpose of unauthorized access to important information. These attacks are not carried out by indiscriminate attackers but rather by individuals who have appeared to obtain trade secrets, financial gain, or military intelligence.

The source of the targeted phishing emails appears to be an individual within a recipient-owned organization or someone the target person knows personally. Oftentimes, government-funded hacking activists and hackers carry out these activities. Cybercriminals also carry out these attacks intending to resell confidential data to private companies and governments. These attackers use social engineering and individualized methods to customize websites and messages effectively.

3- Whaling attacks

A whaling attack is a type of cyber attack that focuses on high-profile employees such as the chief financial officer or chief executive officer. It aims to steal important information because those who occupy high positions in a company have an unlimited amount of important information. In most whaling cases the victim is tricked into sending massive bank transfers to the attacker.

The term whaling refers to the scale of the attack, and victims are targeted based on their position within the organization. Due to the importance of targeting them, whaling attacks are more difficult than regular phishing attacks.

In the corporate arena, systems security administrators can minimize the impact of this breach by encouraging corporate management personnel to attend security awareness training sessions.

4- Malware Attacks

Malware Attacks is a code that is entered on the target person's device to secretly affect his computer system without obtaining the user's consent. This comprehensive definition includes several specific types of malware (malicious software) such as spyware, ransomware, command, and control.

Several well-known businesses, cities, and criminal elements have been involved in spreading malware and have been exposed while doing so.

Malware attacks differ from other programs in their ability to spread throughout the network, cause changes and damage, hide without detection, and persist in the compromised system. These programs can destroy networks and disrupt machines from operating within an organization.

5- Ransomware virus

Ransomware blocks access to victims' data, and they usually threaten to delete it if the ransom is not paid. No guarantee paying the ransom will enable victims to regain access to the data. Ransomware is often spread by a Trojan horse virus that sends basic data disguised as a valid file.

6- Drive-by phishing attack

Drive-by phishing is a common way to spread malware.

A cyber attacker searches for an unsecured website and implants a malicious script in PHP or HTTP on a page. This script installs malware into a computer that visits this website or becomes an IFRAME and redirects the victim's browser to one of the sites controlled by the attacker. In most cases, these scripts are shaded, which makes it difficult for security researchers to analyze the code or code. These attacks are known as Drive-by because they require no action from the victim other than visiting the compromised website. When the victim visits the compromised site, the virus automatically and unnoticeably attacks it if his computer is exposed to malware, and specifically if he does not use any security updates for his applications.

7- Trojan horse programs

It spreads by camouflaging and likening it to regular programs and convincing the victim to install it. Trojans are one of the most dangerous types of malware because they are often designed to steal financial information.

Third: Web attacks (Internet attacks

1- SQL attack injection

SQL injection attack, also known as SQL, is a type of cyber attack that propagates malicious code to breach back-end databases to gain access to information that is intended to be hidden. This may include several items including private customer details, user lists, or important company data.

SQLI attacks can have devastating effects on a business. A successful SQLI attack can cause the deletion of entire tables, unauthorized display of user lists, and in some cases, an attacker could gain administrative access to a database. These things could seriously damage a business. When calculating the potential cost of an SQLI attack, you should consider losing a customer's confidence if their personal information such as addresses, credit card details, and phone numbers is stolen.

Although it is possible to use SQLI to attack any SQL database, perpetrators often target websites.

2- Shared site scripting

Cross-site scripting is a type of cyber-attack where the attacker sends malicious scripts to content from another trusted website. This occurs when a suspected source is allowed to attach its code or code in web applications, and then that code is combined with dynamic content that is then sent to the victim's browser.

The code is usually sent in the form of bits of Javascript that is executed by the target's browser. Hacking operations can include malicious executable scripts in some languages ​​including Flash, HTML, Java, and Ajax. These attacks can have devastating effects, however, minimizing the vulnerabilities that enable these attacks to occur is relatively easy. Antivirus safe and secure own pc.