6 Common Types of Cyberattack
As a small business owner you’d protect your business from being burgled or physical criminal damage, so why wouldn’t you protect your business from criminals who could cause damage through your network?
You don’t need to become a cybersecurity expert, but having a high-level understanding of some common types of cyberattack will help, especially when it comes to choosing the network security products for your business.
A computer virus is designed to spread from one computer to another, and can corrupt or delete your data. They self-replicate, modify and spread copies of themselves through another program in order to access private information. Viruses can often be shared through email attachments, so make sure you only open those that are from a trusted source and have adequate anti-virus software in place.
A computer worm is a standalone malware, which self-replicates and can gain access to your network by exploiting security weaknesses on that system. According to AntvirusWorld, the term “worm” derives from the John Brunner novel, “The Shockwave Rider.” The book describes a software program that was similar to software created by researchers who were writing a paper on early experiments in distributed computing.
3. Denial of Service
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an attempt to make a business or service unavailable by flooding it with traffic from multiple sources. It can overload a server and render critical network services unavailable. A DoS attack can disable devices such as printers, or even crash the web server on which your business depends.
Social engineering attacks target your employees to reveal sensitive information that could disrupt your business, this could be in person or through a phishing attack. An attacker may misrepresent themselves through a phone call or might steal a password by looking over an employee’s shoulder in a public hotspot. Phishing attacks can take the form of an email that appears to come from a trusted source asking for information such as account numbers or passwords, under the guise of a genuine website.
Spyware is software that aims to acquire confidential information. Once it has access to your network, spyware can monitor your activities undetected. It can record the data that you see, record your keystrokes, all in a bid to gather passwords and more. As well as collecting data, spyware can also overload your network with the likes of phishing emails or injecting pop-up windows into your browser.
Trojans are used by hackers to gain access to your network with the intent to cause harm to your business by monitoring activity or corrupting your data. They are usually disguised as a normal file or program and trick users into installing them.
Preventing a cyberattack
These common types of cyberattacks can be prevented by taking adequate network security measures. To find out how to protect your business from cyberattacks read these top 6 cybersecurity tips for the small to mid-sized business owner.
About the Author:
Richard Gooding leads Kerio’s marketing activities including demand generation, content, partner marketing and marketing operations. Richard joined Kerio in 2011 and has over 25 years’ experience in high tech businesses, including management roles in marketing, product and professional services.