Cyber ​​​​attacks: get to know the three categories and why the third is more dangerous

The Internet is full of dangers scattered around, and today we have collected 13 types cyber attacks in this article. For ease of understanding, we have grouped them into three different categories, which you can see below. These are the main sources through which people become victims of fraud or cyber crimes.

Types of Cyber ​​Attacks – Image: Reproduction/Freepik

Espionage cyber attacks

Espionage attacks, ultimately, aim to gather information. However, they have a greater focus on staying hidden, working as long as possible. One of the most common cases is the interception between two transmission points, more precisely the exchange of data and information. That’s why we see companies like Meta, so concerned about the security of their chats, internal or user.

1. IoT attacks

Attacks from Internet of Things (IoT) occur when hackers exploit unpatched vulnerabilities or bugs in accessories to break into a network. Another way intruders can get in is through surveillance in the operating system.

2. MITM attacks

Man-in-the-middle or MITM is a cyber attack in which attackers secretly spy on messages between two parties. In this way, the criminal can extract important information without the two victims imagining that they are being exposed to a third party.

3. Attacks of passive listening

Here we are talking about a variant of the MITM attack, since the attacker passively listens to the network communication in order to gain access to private information. We can say that the first case can happen in chats on what’s upand this cyber-attack takes place through telephone calls or VoIP, for example.

Software cyber attacks

attacks software will exploit program flaws or use malware on victims. Many criminals are also looking for important information, however, some may aim to stop other services, such as Ransomware (hijacking) or DDoS (server overload).

1. Zero day research

First of all, a zero-day exploit is malware that can be quite difficult to detect, with the potential to do a lot of damage until it is detected. After all, it exploits flaws hitherto unknown to the creators, without any protection that exists in computers or systems.

2. DOS and DDoS attack

In distributed denial of service (DDoS) or denial of service (DOS) attacks, criminals crash or slow down a system. They do this by flooding the server with external Internet data traffic.

3. Password cyber attacks

As the name implies, this cyber attack aims to maliciously authenticate all password-protected accounts. Today there are software that speeds up password cracking or guessing, making the malicious practice even more accessible. Hackers can use invalid password attempts, dictionary attacks, or brute force attacks.

4. Rootkits

We are talking here about malicious software packages that seek to allow unauthorized access to another program or computer. Rootkits can be difficult to detect because they manage to hide their presence. They work on the elementary basis of the software or system, using the masked name of some essential file. Rootkit software is used to steal data or even remotely manipulate another machine.

5. Malware

Malware is the main tool for causing malicious software attacks, often found on a network or on a computer. They are here ransomwaretrojans and spyware, among other means that can be used to steal information, encrypt files, and even crack passwords.

Informational cyberattacks

The goal of informational cyberattacks is to collect data from victims. They can happen in a variety of ways, including other categories such as software criminals. To protect yourself, it’s important to pay attention to the websites you visit and the information you provide online.

1. Social engineering

Social engineering is a psychological manipulation scheme to trick victims into revealing sensitive information, such as credit card information or someone’s identity. To do this, fraudsters can pretend to be a supplier, customer support, your boss or the company’s IT team who need confidential information.

2. Session hijacking

In session hijacking, a hacker takes control of a user’s browsing session to gain access to their personal information. Therefore, many take ownership of the data collected by cookies. Its goal is to find data and passwords with a focus on online accounts or computers.

3. SQL injection attacks

Structured Query Language (SQL) injection results from the use of malicious SQL code that can manipulate the back-end database. In this way, it gives the criminal access to information that should be hidden. This is information such as confidential company information, private information about customers or lists of users.

4. DNS spoofing

When hackers poison DNS server entries, perform Domain Name Service (DNS) spoofing. After landing on such domains, the victim is redirected to a malicious website controlled by the attacker. Then, the site can be used to spread malware, steal data, or perform identity theft and other actions.

5. Phishing Cyber ​​​​attacks

These cyber attacks are without a doubt the most well-known, and they happen by sending fake e-mails or advertisements. They usually use the name of reputable companies, reducing the suspicion of victims. However, the purpose is to steal personal information such as credit card numbers and passwords.

But it is also becoming common practice spear phishing. Here, instead of working with countless people, criminals target only one target. However, these attacks are more focused on stealing access credentials from VIPs (key people applying to organizations of any kind or the very rich and influential). In this case, it is common for the fraudster to impersonate someone else in an important position, such as a bank manager, for example.

With information: Small Business Trends, Kaspersky

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