Cybercrime is a rampant crisis that affects industries, businesses, and individuals. Present vulnerabilities in an organization’s digital systems or networks can provide attackers with the perfect opportunity to commit cyberattacks.

What Is a Cyberattack?

A cyberattack occurs when there is a malicious attempt to violate digitalized data or information. There could be threats from inside a company or externally. The purpose of these attacks is to steal, corrupt, destroy, change, or exploit confidential documents, messages, and knowledge.

Nine Types of Cybersecurity Attacks

Understanding the top cybersecurity threats can educate you on what to watch out for and how to defend against malicious attacks.

Malware

Originally known as “malicious software,” malware encompasses any intrusive software created to invade and destroy digital networks, often on computers and other devices.

The intent of malicious software is to encrypt, delete, steal, or even hijack a computer. Once this happens, the hacker can have control over a network to complete this plan of attack.

Phising

The hallmark of a true phishing scam includes:

• An offer too good to be true
• Hyperlinks
• An Unknown Sender
• Attachments
• A Sense of Urgency 

Password Attack

When a cybercriminal attempts to steal your password, this is identified as a password attack. It’s prevalent among corporations and it can happen to personal accounts in order to breach data. Weak passwords are easier for hackers to test and guess.

Denial-of-Service Attacks

When a cyber threat actor carries out a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, users cannot access computers, networks, devices, and systems. The DoS attack floods a server with traffic to trigger a crash that infects or destroys computers or services like emails, websites, or online banking accounts.

Trojan Horses

Also referred to as a Trojan, this is malicious programming, code, or software intended to harm, steal, or corrupt your computer or online data. Individuals may download the Trojan horse, not realizing it’s a ploy, although it may appear legitimate. A cyber attacker can send an email with an attachment, document, or free download hiding disruptive malware or malicious code.

SQL Injection

Simply put, an SQL injection attack attempts to interject SQL code into a database. From there, attackers can control, modify, steal, and access sensitive data and information. A hacker may want a company’s valuable and confidential assets like business plans and client contacts.

Eavesdropping Attacks

An eavesdropping attack, also known as a sniffing or snooping attack, directly violates cybersecurity. It happens when a cyberattacker deletes, intercepts or alters data transferred between two digital devices.

Ransomware

Ransomware is when malware encrypts files on a computer and denies the user access and control over their device until they pay a ransom. The cyberattacker will hold restricted data until the company or individual pays the fee within a deadline. If the hacker does not receive a payment, then they destroy the data forever, leaving the victims helpless and at a significant loss.

Insider Threats

Insider threats are exactly what they sound like. An insider of an organization can expose privileged information. With specialized knowledge, insiders are privy to confidential data that is not open to the public and would threaten a company’s infrastructure.

When data is compromised, it can be the catalyst for the aftermath of problems a company faces from a single, but detrimental, attack.

Data is essential to your business. Macrium has solutions for every type of business to protect and store data that won’t be lost – check out their blog to learn more.