Cyber Security Threats

 1. Malware:

Malicious Software which is designed to harm or exploit any device, service or network.

Types of Malware:

Viruses Code that attaches to legitimate programs and spreads when executed.

Worms Self-replicating malware that spreads across networks without user intervention.

Trojans Software that masquerades as legitimate programs but performs harmful activities in the background.

Ransomware Encrypts a victim's files, demanding payment for their release

Spyware Stealth software secretly monitors user activities, often for stealing sensitive information.

Adware: Unwanted software that automatically displays ads.

2. Social Engineering:

The art of forcing people to reveal confidential information or otherwise compromise security, often in the guise of another reason.

Common Techniques:

• Pretexting: Creating a fabricated scenario to obtain sensitive information.

Baiting is luring a victim by offering something attractive to gain information or install malware.

3.Supply Chain Attacks:

A supply chain attack targets an organization's vendors or third-party partners for access to its systems based on the trust organizations have in their suppliers. These include compromised software, hardware, service providers, and maybe even stolen credentials for network access.

Some types of supply chain attacks include:

• Software supply chain attacks: for example, the SolarWinds attack
• Hardware tampering (embedding malicious components in hardware)
• Third-party service breaches (breaches involving contractors or suppliers)
• Phishing/social engineering targeting supply chain employees

4. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks:

An attack where a third party intercepts and possibly alters communication between two parties unaware of it.

Example: Intercepting a message during an online transaction to steal sensitive data.

5.Denial-of-Service (DoS) : 

Attacks that flood a system, server, or network with excessive traffic, making it unavailable to its intended users.

Difference: In a DoS attack, the traffic comes from a single source, while in a DDoS, the traffic is distributed across multiple sources, making it harder to block.

6. Insider Threats:

An inside threat comes from individuals such as employees, contractors, or business partners of an organization who have access to the company's systems and data.

Types:

Malicious insiders intentionally steal or leak data.

Negligent insiders unwittingly expose data either through carelessness or some form of ignorance.

7. Advanced Persistent Threats (APT):

 Long-term targeted attacks where the attacker infiltrates a network and maintains unauthorized access over some length of time to steal data or spy on an organization.

• Characteristics: These are usually state-sponsored and can be highly sophisticated and co-ordinated attacks.

8.Identity-based attack:

An identity-based attack focuses on exploiting vulnerabilities in identity management to pretend to be existing users and unlock access to systems or data without permission. Standard tactics include phishing, credential stuffing, password cracking, and social engineering.

• Effects:

Unauthorized access, data breaches, or financial losses.

• Mitigation:

Use multi-factor authentication, enforcing strong passwords, and monitoring access of users.

9.Injection attack:

An injection attack occurs when an attacker inserts malicious code into a vulnerable input field, which is then executed by a system, allowing unauthorized actions like data theft, system compromise, or control over the system.

Common Types:

• SQL Injection: Inserting malicious SQL queries to access or manipulate databases.

• Command Injection: Executing system commands on the host machine.

• XML Injection: Manipulating XML data to exploit vulnerabilities in an application.

10.Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks:

A DDoS attack throws massive traffic at the target (usually a server or network) from different sources, making it unavailable to real users for the time.

Key Points:

• Objective: Overwhelm the targeted system with too much traffic so that services are halted.

• Attack Mechanism: Application of flooding with large volumes of requests from a botnet of compromised devices simultaneously.

• Impact:

Lost revenue and reputation due to service unavailability.

• Mitigation:

Use traffic filtering, rate limiting, and DDoS protection services to soak up as well as block malicious traffic.

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