Cyber attacks can result in many negative consequences. Attackers may gain access to users’ sensitive information such as usernames and passwords, credit card numbers, or bank account information. They can also take control of victims’ computers and use them for their purposes: spamming email addresses (and potential victims), hosting illegal content, and performing DDoS attacks on websites. Another possible infringement is when cyber criminals steal documents or files from the compromised computer system. This allows them to either hold the information ransom until payment is made or sell it on an underground market which could lead to further crimes such as identity theft. As a consequence users’ privacy is breached and their private life is exposed to public scrutiny without their consent which might result in serious mental implications.
This article discusses the various types of cyber attacks. It explains in detail the various negative impacts it has on cyber well-being.
Negative impacts of cyber attacks and their various forms:
- One of the biggest threats to companies is the loss of their data. The most common way for this data to be breached is by spear-phishing attacks. Companies are often attacked through email or instant messaging when they send out large numbers of emails with attachments that contain viruses or malware.
- If an attacker can gain access to a computer system without being noticed it can lead to serious problems down the line. Many attackers will silently maintain access allowing them to steal information at will or cause damage if necessary This type of infiltration into networks results in sensitive information being stolen. Attackers can use that information to access bank accounts, credit cards, and financial records.
- Another problematic kind of attack happens when companies receive spam email messages containing dangerous attachments such as trojans which give attackers the ability to establish a connection with the organization’s computer networks and search for sensitive data.
- Social engineering is an attack-type conducted by human interaction instead of technical exploits. This means it involves the manipulation and deceiving of others to gain access to computers or other facilities. It is described as “an ‘end run’ around physical security measures” that uses psychological manipulation rather than technology to breach barriers. This type of attack is hard to detect and therefore it is considered one of the most dangerous cyber threats according to security experts.
- Another possible threat to organizations comes from malware. Malware attacks usually target large organizations because they have larger data stores that can be used for ransom or sold on underground markets.
- Most commonly executable files such as MS Office documents, PDFs, and many multimedia formats like movies, MP3s and MP4s contain malware that can damage devices if opened. A common infection vector is a malvertising; attackers use online ad networks to host malicious payloads that automatically download when a user an advertisement.
- A denial of service (DoS) attack is a security incident where the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely dismantling the credibilities of a host. This type of attack can affect almost any section of society and economy which makes it such an important cyber threat. These attacks usually come in three forms: Distributed Denial Of Service (DDoS), Advanced Persistent DoS(APDoS), and DDoS Botnets. They all include activities that aim at overloading servers with fake requests so they can no longer respond to legitimate traffic and render them useless. A massive number of infected devices participating in the attack generates this effect.
- A distributed denial of service attack is an attack where multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a target system such as a server. This means that instead of every attacker using their system to perform the attack it is performed by many systems at once which can distort real traffic to hide the number of attackers involved.
- The most interesting type in this list is ransomware which encrypts all data on devices using asymmetric encryption which requires both parties to have unique keys. Ransomware is used mainly in online banking fraud where attackers steal money by diverting transfers to their accounts. They are also being used for extortion purposes on individuals, corporations, public institutions, and even government bodies.
- According to security experts, ransomware cyber attacks will explode over the next few years because they are easy to implement and have a high payout ratio.
- The last category of cyber attack is espionage which refers to stealing secrets from organizations for either commercial or political reasons. There are several examples of successful spying including the Chinese Operation Shady RAT that hacked over seventy organizations including defense contractors and human rights groups. Another example would be the 2015 Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack which affected four million Americans and six hundred thousand of them were employees of the federal government.
- Lastly, several non-destructive cyber-attacks aim to steal data rather than harm hardware. These include social engineering, spear-phishing campaigns, and vishing where attackers trick victims into revealing their bank account details or credentials for online accounts. Non-destructive cyber attacks can be just as harmful as a DDos attacks because people will lose faith in the Internet if they cannot protect their most sensitive information.
- Cyber security is a topic that affects everyone whether it be from email scams or information being leaked from an organization. Many different types of attacks can happen and each serves a different purpose. In this article, I will explain the different types of cyber attack and their effects on society. The three main types of attack are DoS (Denial-of-service), APDoS (Advanced Persistent DoS), and Ransomware.
- A denial-of-service attack attempts to make services unavailable by flooding them with fake traffic, advanced persistent denial-of-service attempt to bypass anti-DDoS countermeasures, while ransomware encrypts data on devices using asymmetric encryption then demands money for you to get it back. The most interesting types to look at are DoS and ransomware because they can be destructive or non-destructive; for example, the 2015 OPM hack affected four million Americans who were employed by the federal government. This caused many to lose faith in the system which could lead to people not using online banking services.
This article plays an instrumental role in developing clarity in the minds of the readers about the various cyber-attacks. One can refer to the articles published by Appsealing to know more about this critical issue.
