Top 8 common types of cyber security attacks

Cyber attacks have been known to cause million of worth damages to organizations across the world. These attacks occur in various forms. Hence, they have been classified into different types as listed below:

Worms

This is a standalone malware program that copies itself to computers on the internet. Basically, a worm replicates itself.

Viruses

Worm and viruses work in a similar fashion, except that they need a host file or program to infect. Viruses spread through software or document they are attached to and shared from one computer to another via disk, file sharing, e-mail attachments or network.

Trojans

Named after the mythical horse from the Trojan war, this program disguises itself as an authentic software whereas it is in reality hiding malware. The users unknowingly end up downloading or installing it, which results in infecting the computers.

Botnets

The amalgamation of the words ‘robot’ and ‘network’, botnets do not significantly affect an individual system. However, they can create a serious damage when they attack the systems in hundreds like an army.

The virus, worm, Trojans and botnet attacks can be quite confusing as they mostly work in a similar manner. When you enrol in cyber security certification course, you can explore the difference with more clarity.

Ransomware

It is a type of malware attack. Once it is installed on the computers, it encrypts all data. The hackers will give the decryption key only after their ransom demand is met. Ransomware is again sub-classified into two categories – Locker and Crypto. The former locks the device while the later denies access to files or data.

Phishing

Phishing attacks are mainly associated with email attachments and links. The users think that these emails have been sent by a trusted source like their company, bosses or banks. The moment they open the attachment or click the url, it makes their computers vulnerable to phishing attack.

Denial of Service (DoS Attack)

In this attack, the hackers mainly target the website. They will overload the website server with huge traffic due to which it will not be able to take the load and shut down. Now imagine when the business website shuts down, what adverse implications it can have for the business! Customers may think that the organization has closed!

Man in the Middle (MITM)

Here, the attacker impersonates people communicating with each other and modifies the communication. The victims don’t even realize that they have fallen prey to cyber attack.

Unfortunately, there is no way to detect these attacks in advance so that can stalled before they wreck havoc. However, a cyber security certification course can help you to implement a cyber security strategy and respond promptly and appropriately when an attack occurs.

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