Cyber Attacks are increasing with each passing day. Not only on a small scale, but the big companies were also the victim of Cyber Attack in recent years. Let’s have a look at some of the statistics revealing the overall impact of Cyber Attacks in recent years and forecast.
- In 2018, personal records were stolen as much as half a billion
- Nearly 43% of cyber attacks have affected small businesses
- In 2021, an estimated $6 trillion is expected to be spent on cybersecurity.
- 95% of cyber attacks occur normally due to human error
- In 2020, a data breach will exceed $150 million
In this post, we are going to reveal some of the notorious Cyber Attacks that could likely affect you on an individual or large scale. In addition, we are going to give some tips to prevent them. Let us move on.
Malware
Malware is the most common type of cyber attack that comes in various forms such as ransomware and viruses. It can enter your computer through software or an infected file downloaded online. Malware can be quite harmful as it takes control over your machine from monitoring your activities and keystrokes to sending private and confidential data from the computer to the hacker.
Malware can also copy data from your hard drive, install other malware and block access to the network.
Prevention: If you want to protect your machine from malware attacks, make sure to invest in some of the reputed antivirus software.
Phishing
Phishing is a kind of social engineering attack involving deceitful communication, originated from a trusted source. Phishing is normally originated by clicking the random link or downloading an attachment. Attackers normally indulge you or instigate you to take specific action in order to get the details of personal information.
The email appears to be from a company you trust on such as online e-commerce stores. It rather looks attractive, somewhat legitimate and has some urgency to it. Upon opening a link or downloading an attachment, you will install malware on your machine. The purpose of phishing is to collect your credentials and other private details such as credit card number, bank account, etc.
Prevention: If you want to prevent yourself from phishing, make sure to verify the legitimacy of websites and email senders.
SQL Injection
SQL Injection is generally used in programming and is programmed to manage data in a relational database management system. While going through SQL Injection, the hackers put malicious code in the server that incorporates SQL, which leads to reveal sensitive information.
Prevention: SQL injection can be protected by observing users in the application through blacklisting and whitelisting. It can also be protected by using network prevention systems like firewalls.
Man-in-the-middle attack
Man in the Middle Attack is a cyber attack that occurs when hacker interrupts and transmits messages between two parties, who think they are communicating with one another. It is also termed as eavesdropping attack. Once the hackers involved in the conversation, they can steal, manipulate or filter the sensitive information.
Prevention: One of the ways to protect yourself from Man in the Middle Attacks is by encrypting data. For small and big enterprises, they can integrate auditing and monitoring in order to track staff activities.
Botnets
Botnets are the setup of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without letting the owner know. The zombie systems or bots are used to attack against the target systems, overpowering the target system’s processing abilities and bandwidth. The DDoS attacks are generally hard to track because botnets reside in different locations.
Prevention: The best way to prevent botnets from attacking is to install a Windows Firewall, enhance monitoring and monitor DNS queries.
Conclusion
In the digital age, when everything is connected, make sure that you keep your personal devices updated with the latest software. Moreover, use strong Wi-Fi passwords and change the default ones. Switch to a provider like Cox, Mediacom, and AT&T that offer free internet security suits. Don’t forget to install trusted antivirus software to scan your system frequently and, be notified about potential risks on your computer.