For modern businesses, cybersecurity is a very important, yet often overlooked consideration. Even if a business isn’t operating online, or only maintains a minimal presence, cybersecurity is still very important. Cybercriminals are becoming ever more creative with the type of crimes that they perpetrate, and more audacious in the targets that they pursue.
Cyber attacks can take a number of different forms, but there are a few common types which account for the majority. Here we take a look at the most common types of cyber attacks with are used against businesses These are the vulnerabilities that you need to be most aware of. Remain vigilant at all times and never let your business’s cybersecurity defenses down.
Malware
Malware encompasses a wide range of software-based cyber attacks. Malware is any code which, when executed, is malicious in its action. Malware can range from the annoying to the devastating. The recent WannaCry attack is perhaps the most prominent example of a large-scale cyber attack.
Malware can infect a system from a number of different sources. E-mail attachments have regularly been used as a delivery mechanism, exploiting vulnerabilities in web browsers and e-mail clients to create malware, which executes when an e-mail attachment is clicked on and opened.
Phishing
Phishing attacks use spoofed e-mails and web addresses to trick people into entering personal or sensitive data into what looks like a legitimate website but is, in fact, a fake site set up by hackers. Protecting against phishing attacks requires that users are educated on the dangers. Always make sure that you check the source of any e-mails you receive, be on the lookout for any irregularities, such as extra characters and incorrect suffixes (.com or .co.uk, etc.)
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Distributed Denial of Service
Denial of Service attacks are designed to disrupt networks and to bring down, albeit temporarily, websites and online services. This is achieved by overloading the service in question with web traffic. This puts an increasing strain on the system until its capacity is exceeded, at which point it will become inaccessible. Even if this limit isn’t breached, a denial of service attack can still bring a system to its knees and reduce speeds to a crawl.
Man in The Middle
Man in the Middle attacks are attacks in which the attacker intercepts data being transmitted between two points, usually a user and a service. By capturing, and if necessary decrypting, this data, attackers are able to intercept and identify passwords and other data as it is transmitted from one place to another. This is most commonly achieved by the attacker impersonating the endpoint of a system. For example, by creating an unsecured wireless hotspot in a public place, the attacker can have people connect to it. If they then buy something online, the attacker can intercept their bank details.
Maintaining good cybersecurity is important for any modern business. Failing to maintain your cyber defenses can ultimately end up costing your business a fortune.