Introduction
In today’s digital world, cyber-attacks are becoming a regular threat for organizations. Every year there seem to be new stories about big companies that got attacked and suffered horrific consequences. But it’s not just about them. Hackers target companies of any size and industry, making it important to know which are the most common types of cyber-attacks and be aware of them.
Common types of cyber-attacks
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Malware
This is one of the most known, yet vicious methods of attack. Short for Malicious Software, Malware refers to any kind of software created for the purpose of stealing data and causing damage to a computer, server, client or network system. Some common types of Malware are:
- Ransomware: Blocks the access to a network until an amount of money is paid.
- Spyware: Obtains information about a network’s activities and sends it to a third party without the user’s consent.
- Trojan Horses: Disguised as a legitimate software, a Trojan Horse can gain access to the user’s system without raising suspicion.
- Worms: Worms can modify and delete files, steal data, inject additional malware into a system and even replicate themselves to spread to other computers.
- Viruses: They spread from one computer to another and change the way they operate.
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Phishing
Hackers using the Phishing method target a group of people, or even individuals and send deceitful messages while imitating a legitimate source. By sending emails, text and voice messages, their goal is to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information.
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SQL Injection
An SQL (Structured Query Language) Injection is a code infection technique with which an attacker inserts malicious code into a server that uses SQL and gains administrative rights to the database. That gives the hacker the ability to control and reveal sensitive data such as lists of information about a company, its employees and customers.
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Man-in-the-middle attacks
These attacks occur when an attacker manages to sneak into a two-party transaction, like a conversation between a user and an application. They can either interrupt the traffic, or impersonate one of the parties so that they can steal information. There are loads of entry points for Man-in-the-middle attacks, including open Wi-Fi networks, DNS spoofing and HTTPS spoofing.
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Denial-of-service attacks
In this case, the name is pretty self explanatory. Hackers use this method in an attempt to make a computer or a network unavailable. For example, a hacker may compromise a system and then proceed to create really large amounts of traffic, forcing it to shut down.
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Brute Force attacks
Brute Force Attacks are simple, more traditional attacks that involve the use of different tools and bots to gain unauthorized access to a system. These tools constantly try as many different combinations as possible to eventually guess the password to the system and acquire confidential information.
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Zero-day Exploit
With this type of cyber-attack, hackers take advantage of undiscovered, unidentified or recently discovered vulnerabilities of a system which haven’t been resolved. Zero-day Exploits are particularly dangerous because most of the time the developers of the system are unaware of its weakness, making the attack very likely to be successful.
How to prepare for and recover from cyber-attacks
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Have an Incident Response plan
An Incident Response plan helps organizations mitigate the effects of cyber-attacks. It includes guides and instructions on how to prepare, respond and recover from cyber security incidents, as well as specific actions that ensure a more effective cyber security model. One thing is certain, if a system or network hasn’t been threatened yet, then it surely will be in the future. It is essential that organizations are proactive about cyber-attacks so that when they happen, it will be a lot easier to control the damage and recover as quickly as possible.
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Conduct Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing
Firstly, when conducting a Vulnerability Assessment the goal is to find, identify and prioritize vulnerabilities in the organization’s systems, applications or networks. By doing so, the company can better understand its weaknesses and determine the security threats and risks that come with them. For organizations, it is very important to recognize and define weaknesses before they get exploited by cyber attackers and pose a real problem to their infrastructures. On the other hand, Penetration Testing is a simulation of a cyber-attack that aims at exploiting the identified vulnerabilities. Its intention is to confirm that these weaknesses actually pose a major threat to the organization. Security professionals conduct this test with the help of tools and procedures that hackers use. That gives them an accurate image of what obstacles a hacker would face while trying to access the system and how easy it is to do so.
Combining these two procedures is crucial for defining the level of security in a system and ensuring that it is up to date with the latest cyber security threats.
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Use a Log Management and Security Analytics software
Log management and Security Analytics softwares, like Logstail.com, operate like control towers for the IT systems of an organization. Log files contain information about every action that takes place within a system, application or network. However, the vast amount of log data generated by these systems, applications and networks makes manual log management impossible. By adopting these softwares, organizations can analyze logs in real-time through automated log monitoring and visualize the results with an abundance of dashboards. Additionally, they can receive alerts for any abnormal or suspicious event that occurs. That gives users valuable insights about the state of their data, which include potential outside threats, and also improved visibility of their network.
Conclusion
Being aware of the latest trends in cyber-attacks is one of the keys to an organization’s sustainability. In addition, adopting solutions that mitigate their effect ensures the minimization of resources lost when such attacks occur.
Our cloud-hosted solution with advanced features brings the functionality of centralized monitoring to your hands. Convert your data into actionable insights and maximize the performance of your infrastructure, or be notified of potential problems and take the appropriate actions. Sign-up for a free demo in order to realize the power of Logstail! Logstail will re-adjust the way you monitor your data and will help you get more meaningful insights of your technical logs, via dashboards and powerful graphs, to stay alert for all possible dangers.
In Logstail we are also offering the full range of services required to effectively mitigate cyber-attacks. Incident response and consulting, penetration testing and red team operations are altogether aiming to help our customers mitigate their cyber incidents. Contact us at sales@logstail.com to get a tailored offer for your business or get a free consultation by our team of globally recognized security experts!
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