Types Of Cyber Attacks

Before we learn how organizations and individuals can protect themselves, let’s start with what they’re protecting themselves against. What is a cyberattack? Simply, it’s any malicious attack on a computer system, network, or device to gain access and information. There are many different types of cyberattacks. Here are some of the most common ones:

 

•Malware is malicious software, including spyware, ransomware, and viruses. It accesses a network through a weakness—for example, when a member of the network clicks on a fraudulent link or email attachment. Once malware controls a system, it can demand payment in exchange for access to that system (ransomware), covertly transmit information from the network (spyware), or install additional harmful software on the network. In 2021, ransomware attacks alone surged by 105 percent.

 

•Phishing involves a bad actor sending a fraudulent message that appears to come from a legitimate source, like a bank or a company, or from somebody with the wrong number. Phishing attacks are made through email, text, or social networks. Typically, the goal is to steal information by installing malware or by cajoling the victim into divulging personal details.

 

•Man-In-the-middle - Specifically, true confidential computing that encrypts cloud data at rest (in storage), in motion (as it travels to, from and within the cloud) and in use (during processing) to support customer privacy, business requirements and regulatory compliance standards.

 

•Denial of service attacks flood systems with traffic to clog up bandwidth so that they can’t fulfill legitimate requests. The goal of this type of attack is to shut down systems.