Common Types of Cyber Attacks & How to Prevent Them.pptx
- 1. 4th Industrial Revolution: Importance of Cyber Security and how to Protect us
- 2. Why is Cyber Awareness Important? ⬡ Cyber crime is a growing trend ⬡ Raise awareness of threats ⬡ As with most crimes the police can’t tackle this problem alone ⬡ To encourage reporting ⬡ Dependency of Online system
- 3. Cyber Security Focus ⬡ Keeping the Bad Guys out ⬡ Protecting your Internal Network ⬡ Recovering from an Attack
- 4. Hacking ⬡ Financial (theft, fraud, blackmail) ⬡ Political /state (state level/ military) ⬡ Fame/ kudos (fun/ status) ⬡ Hacktivism (cause) ⬡ Pen testers (legal hacking) ⬡ Police/law enforcing agency ⬡ Insider ⬡ Business
- 5. What is Cybersecurity? What is a Cyber Attack? Cybersecurity is the method of safeguarding networks, computer systems, and their components from unauthorized digital access. When there is an unauthorized and offensive system/network access by a third party, we term it as a cyberattack. The person who carries out a cyberattack is termed as a hacker. 5 What is an Attack Vector? An attack vector is a specific path, method, or scenario that can be exploited to break into an IT system, thus compromising its security. The most common attack vectors include malware, viruses, email attachments, web pages, pop-ups, instant messages, text messages, and social engineering.
- 6. 6 Types of Cyber Attacks: 1. Malware Attack This is one of the most common types of cyberattacks. “Malware” refers to malicious software viruses including worms, spyware, ransomware, adware, and Trojans. Malware breaches a network through a vulnerability. When the user clicks a malicious link, it downloads a malware, or when an infected pen drive is used. Prevention: Install anti-virus and anti-spyware software and update them frequently. Keep your operating systems and other applications updated. Monitor for suspicious activity, and provide cybersecurity awareness training.
- 7. Common threats - Ransomware ⬡ Normally loaded onto a computer via a download/attachment/link from an email or website. ⬡ Will either lock the screen or encrypt your data. ⬡ Once Ransomware is uploaded on your computer/tablet/phone it is very difficult to remove without removing all of the data ⬡ Wannacry attack 2017 - One of the biggest cyber attacks to occur. ⬡ Is said to have hit 300,000 computers in 150 countries. ⬡ Companies affected include; NHS, Renault, FedEx, Spanish telecoms and gas companies, German railways.
- 8. Ransomware • More than a third of NHS trusts in England and Wales were affected with over 6,800 operations cancelled.
- 9. 9 Types of Cyber Attacks: 2. Phishing Attack Phishing attack is a type of social engineering attack wherein an attacker impersonates to be a trusted contact and sends the victim fake mails. Unaware of this, the victim opens the mail and clicks on the malicious link or opens the mail's attachment. After the click, attackers gain access to confidential information and account credentials. They can also install malware through a phishing attack. Prevention: Scrutinize the emails you receive, use of anti-phishing toolbar, update your passwords regularly. Know what a phishing scam looks like, and don’t click on that link. Educate your employees.
- 10. 10 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 3. Man-in-the-Middle Attack A Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM) is also known as an eavesdropping attack. In this attack, an attacker comes in between a two-party communication, i.e., the attacker hijacks the session between a client and host. By doing so, hackers steal and manipulate data. The client-server communication has been cut off, and instead, the communication line goes through the hacker. Prevention: One of the best practices for network security is to use a VPN (virtual private network) when connecting online. A VPN encrypts the data you send online. This encryption stops the MITM attack from infiltrating your network traffic. Refrain from using public Wi-Fi networks.
- 11. 11 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 4. SQL Injection Attack A Structured Query Language (SQL) injection attack occurs on a database- driven website when the hacker manipulates a standard SQL query. It is carried by injecting a malicious code into a vulnerable website search box, thereby making the server reveal crucial information. This results in the attacker being able to view, edit, and delete tables in the databases. Attackers can also get administrative rights through this. SQL is a query language that was designed to manage data stored in relational databases. You can use it to access, modify, and delete data. Many web applications and websites store all the data in SQL databases. Therefore, a successful SQL Injection attack can have very serious consequences. Prevention: The only sure way to prevent SQL Injection attacks is input validation and parameterized queries including prepared statements. You can use an Intrusion Detection System.
- 12. 12 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 5. Denial-of-Service Attack In a Denial-of-Service Attack, attackers target systems, servers, or networks and flood them with traffic to exhaust their resources and bandwidth. When this happens, catering to the incoming requests becomes overwhelming for the servers, resulting in the website it hosts either shut down or slow down. This leaves the legitimate service requests unattended. It is also known as a DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attack when attackers use multiple compromised systems to launch this attack. Prevention: Run a traffic analysis to identify malicious traffic. Understand the warning signs like network slowdown, intermittent website shutdowns, etc. At such times, the organization must take the necessary steps without delay.
- 13. 13 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 6. Insider Threat An insider threat refers to someone who work within the organization and knows everything about the organization. Insider threats have the potential to cause tremendous damages. Reasons for this form of an attack are many, it can be greed, malice, disgruntle employee or even carelessness. Insider threats are hard to predict and hence difficult to protect from. Prevention: Organizations should have a good culture of security awareness. They must limit the IT resources staff can have access to depending on their job roles. Organizations must train employees to spot insider threats.
- 14. 14 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 7. Password Attack Password attack is a common attack vector used to bypass or exploit authentication of user accounts. The process can involve comparing a list of words to guess passwords or the use of an algorithm to repeatedly guess the password. Password crackers can decipher passwords in a matter of days or hours, depending on how weak or strong the password is. It is a form of attack wherein a hacker cracks your password with various techniques and password cracking tools like Aircrack, Cain, Abel, John the Ripper, Hashcat, etc. There are different types of password attacks like brute force attacks, dictionary attacks, and keylogger attacks. Prevention: Use strong alphanumeric passwords with special characters. Abstain from using the same password for multiple websites or accounts. Avoid reusing a password anytime. May use password creation tools and password managers.
- 15. 15 Types of Cyber Attacks (contd.): 8. Zero-Day Exploit A Zero-Day Exploit happens after the announcement of a network vulnerability; there is no solution for the vulnerability in most cases. Hence the vendor notifies the vulnerability so that the users are aware; however, this news also reaches the attackers. Depending on the vulnerability, the vendor or the developer could take any amount of time to fix the issue. Meanwhile, the attackers target the disclosed vulnerability. They make sure to exploit the vulnerability even before a patch or solution is implemented for it. Prevention: Organizations should have well-communicated patch management processes. Have an incident response plan to help you deal with a cyberattack. Keep a strategy focusing on zero-day attacks.
- 16. How to Prevent Cyber Attacks? 1. Change your passwords regularly and use strong alphanumeric passwords which are difficult to crack. Refrain from using too complicated passwords that you would tend to forget. Do not use the same password twice. 2. Update both your operating system and applications regularly. This is a primary prevention method for any cyberattack. This will remove vulnerabilities that hackers tend to exploit. Use trusted and legitimate Anti-virus protection software.
- 17. 3. Use a firewall and other network security tools such as Intrusion prevention systems, Access control, Application security, etc. 4. Avoid opening emails from unknown senders. Scrutinize the emails you receive for loopholes and significant errors. 5. Make use of a VPN. This makes sure that it encrypts the traffic between the VPN server and your device. How to Prevent Cyber Attacks? (Contd.)
- 18. 6. Regularly back up your data. According to many security professionals, it is ideal to have three copies of your data on two different media types and another copy in an off-site location (cloud storage). Hence, even in the course of a cyber attack, you can erase your system’s data and restore it with a recently performed backup. 7. Employees should be aware of cybersecurity principles. They must know the various types of cyberattacks and ways to tackle them. How to Prevent Cyber Attacks? (Contd.)
- 19. How to Prevent Cyber Attacks? (Contd.) 8. Use Two-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication. With two-factor authentication, it requires users to provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves. Multifactor authentication (MFA) proves to be a vital step to secure your account. 9. Secure your Wi-Fi networks and avoid using public Wi-Fi without using a VPN. 10. Safeguard your mobile, as mobiles are also a cyberattack target. Install apps from only legitimate and trusted sources, make sure to keep your device updated.
- 20. Public Wi-Fi ⬡ May not be trustworthy. They could share your information to other companies who operate in countries without any data protection. ⬡ You may not know who is watching you whilst you’re online. What to do and not do to ⬡ Don’t use online banking. Use your own data.
- 21. You are the best defence! ⬡ Technology is only a small part of Cyber Defence ⬡ You are the most important person – protect yourself ⬡ For businesses the most important and best defence is Cyber Security Aware employees – train your staff
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Editor's Notes
- #2: Certified with Network Plus and Security Plus; Achieved Certifications in Certified Authorization Professional (CAP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).