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Taking cyber threats seriously

In our 21^st century society, we live in a digital world. More and more business takes place online, which means that companies must take digital threats seriously and implement effective security plans to protect their business and data. Some of the more common threats businesses and individuals face include ransomware, man in the middle attacks, DDoS, phishing, and brute force.

• Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) attack which encrypts your data and blocks access to data. The attacker often demands payment in exchange for the encryption key. One   of the more well-known malware attacks in recent history, the WannaCry attack that affected the NHS, was ransomware.

• Man In The Middle

This is a sneaky type of cyber-attack. The MiTM attack secretly intercepts messages between two parties who believe they are directly communicating. This allows them to digitally eavesdrop on your conversations, but in more serious attacks, the data can be modified in transit. As such, this poses a significant risk for both businesses and individuals, as sensitive data can be accessed by criminals and used for nefarious and harmful purposes.

• DDoS

Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks disrupt traffic to a website or web property. They overwhelm networks with fake internet traffic, making them inaccessible or practically useless to legitimate users. This type of attack is very common and is (by cyber attack standards) easy to carry out. Millions of websites every year are affected by DDoS attacks; they are a threat to anyone and everyone online, from single individuals to large international businesses. In 2020 Amazon was the victim of the largest DDoS attack recorded to date. 

• Phishing

This cyber-attack is a combination of digital and social engineering. By masquerading as a trusted entity, a phishing attacker persuades a victim into opening an email or providing sensitive information. Some phishing attacks include pretending to be your bank and asking for sensitive details, which they then use to steal funds. Other phishing attacks can be the precursor to other attacks, such as ransomware or MiTM attacks.

• Brute Force

This style of cyber-attack uses cryptography. Eventually, through trial and error, the attacker will gain access by submitting many passwords, passcodes, or phrases into a system. This stresses the importance of a complex and hard-to-guess password. Typically speaking, an eight-character alphanumeric password (one that contains capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters) can be cracked by a computer in a few hours.