Cyber Attacks and their types

Types of Cyber Attack

The types of cyber attacks are as follows:

• Man in the middle attack
• Malware Attack
• Phishing Attack
• Dictionary Attack
• Brute Force
• SQL Injection
• Denial of Service Attack
• URL interpretation
• DNS tunnelling
• File Inclusion Attack
• Zero-day Exploitation

Man in the middle attack

An attacker uses man in the middle(MitM) attack to intercept a connection between a client and a server and act as a bridge between them.

The common entry points of the Man in the middle attack are:

• Public Wifi
• Breached Device

Public Wifi

The attacker can use public wifi to steal all the important information from the user. 

Breached Device

The attacker can install malicious software on the breached device. The malicious software then spies all the passwords and sensitive information of the user.

Malware

In a Malware attack, the attacker sends a malicious email or link. When the user clicks this link, malicious software is installed that does spying on the user.

Phishing Attack

An attacker in this attack poses as a trustworthy entity in electronic communication and attempts to steal crucial information from the user.

Dictionary Attack

Dictionary Attack uses all possible passwords, which can be formed by combining words from the dictionary. 

Brute Force

The attacker uses all possible passwords to crack the user password. This method is also known as the trial and error method. The attacker keeps on trying passwords until he finds out the password that unlocks the system.

SQL Injection

The attacker in the SQL injections attack uses a malicious code that uses SQL and reveals the crucial data from the server.

Denial of Service Attack

This attack makes the server unavailable to the user. The attack uses a technique that crashes the server. 

URL interpretation

It is a form of attack in which we can alter particular portions of a URL and cause a web server to send web pages that we are not authorized to view.

DNS tunnelling

DNS tunnelling communicates non-DNS traffic through port 53 using the DNS protocol.

File Inclusion Attack

It tricks an application that helps the attacker access crucial files on the webserver.

Zero-day exploitation 

Zero-day exploitation is used when vulnerabilities of an application/website are announced but not implemented. The attacker used the specific window to attack the application/website.

Also read - active and passive attacks

What is the motive of cyber attackers?

The purpose of the cyberattack is to steal passwords, useful information such as credit card numbers. Using passwords and other sensitive information, the attacker tries to steal money from the victim. 

What are some of the ways to prevent cyber-attacks?

Some of the ways to prevent cyber-attacks are by:

• Changing passwords regularly
• Keeping strong passwords
• Choosing different passwords for different websites
• Using Two-factor authentication
• By keeping antivirus software installed on the system
• By Updating installed software regularly

FAQs

1. What is Cyber Attack?
   A cyber attack attempts to disable computers, corrupt users’ devices, steal users’ data or utilize a breached computer system to launch more attacks.
    
2. Why does cyberattacker use cyber attack?
   The purpose of the cyberattack is to steal passwords and steal useful information such as credit card numbers. Some cyberattacks want to disturb an organization, so they try to crash their server, try to take down the website.
    
3. What are some of the examples of cyber attacks?
   Examples of cyber-attacks are phishing, fraud, virus, denial of service attacks, etc.
    
4. Which is the most common type of cyberattack?
   Malware is the most common cyberattack. The attacker uses viruses, spyware(software that spies information) or worms to gain crucial information. The viruses and worms are usually present in email attachments or harmful links. When the user clicks on them, the viruses or worms are planted in his device.
    
5. What are some of the ways to prevent a cyber attack?
   We can prevent cyber-attack by changing passwords regularly, using two-factor authentication, and by keeping antivirus installed on the system.

Key Takeaways

Cheers if you reached here!! 

In this article, we discussed the meaning of cyber attacks and their types. We also discussed how to keep ourselves safe from cyber attacks.

Check out important blogs and archives below

• Active Attack and Passive Attack
• Cyber security and its working
• Cyber Security Tips
• Cyber Security Archives

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