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What is a cyber attack?

Cyber attacks explained

 
The May 2009 ISO/IEC 27000 publication described an attack on an information or computer network as an “attempt to destroy, expose, alter, disable, steal or gain unauthorized access to or make unauthorized use of anything that has value to the organization".1

The concept of a cyber attack or a computer network attack is rooted in this description.  Techopedia describes a cyber attack as a “deliberate exploitation of computer systems, technology-dependent enterprises and networks.” Techopedia continues, stating that cyber attacks use “malicious code to alter computer code, logic or data, resulting in disruptive consequences that can compromise data and lead to cybercrimes, such as information and identity theft”.2

It’s not just computer networks and computer information systems that are being attacked. Cyber attacks are also infamous for attacking computer infrastructure and peoples’ personal computers.

In addition to cybercrime, cyber attacks can also be associated with cyberwarfare or cyberterrorism, particularly in instances when the attackers are state actors, groups or affiliated organizations. For example, in 2014 a group hacked Sony Pictures and stole troves of data, including many Sony Pictures employees’ personal information, executive salary information, copies of unreleased films, and more. The group, which is suspected to be North Korean or affiliated with North Korea, used a Shamoon wiper malware to obliterate Sony Pictures’ computer infrastructure.

What are the most common types of cyber attacks?

Resources

 

  1. ISO Standards Maintenance Portal, International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  2. Cyberattack, Techopedia, 5 February 2019.
  3. Jeff Melnick, Top 10 Most Common Types of Cyber Attacks, Netwrix Blog, 15 May 2018.
  4. Teardrop Attack, Techopedia.
  5. Smurf Attack, Techopedia, 20 December 2016.
  6. Ping of Death, Techopedia.
  7. Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM), Techopedia, 30 March 2017.
  8. Session Hijacking, Techopedia, 20 November 2012.
  9. IP Spoofing, Techopedia, 17 January 2017.
  10. Replay Attack, Techopedia.
  11. Phishing, Techopedia, 12 October 2021.
  12. Spear Phishing, Techopedia, 28 May 2019.
  13. Drive-By Download, Techopedia.
  14. Password Cracking, Techopedia, 13 January 2017.
  15. Brute Force Attack, Techopedia, 1 July 2020.
  16. Dictionary Attack, Techopedia, 21 October 2021.
  17. SQL Injection, Techopedia, 31 October 2012.
  18. Cross Site Scripting (XSS), Techopedia, 25 March 2013.
  19. Eavesdropping, Techopedia.
  20. Daniel Miessler, The Birthday Attack, DANIELMIESSLER, 28 June 2014.
  21. Birthday attack in Cryptograph, GeeksforGeeks, 12 October 2021.
  22. Birthday attack, Audiopedia, 13 October 2015.
  23. Macro Virus, Techopedia, 16 August 2013.
  24. File-Infecting Virus, Techopedia.
  25. virus (computer virus), SearchSecurity.
  26. Polymorphic Virus, Techopedia.
  27. Stealth Virus, Techopedia.
  28. Brain virus, PCMag.com.
  29. Trojan Horse, Techopedia, 27 January 2017.
  30. Trojan, Malware Wiki.
  31. Fennel Aurora, What are Infostealers?, F-Secure, 10 August 2020.
  32. RAT (remote access Trojan), SearchSecurity.
  33. Data-Sending Trojan, Techopedia, 18 August 2011.
  34. Trojan.FakeAV, EnigmaSoft, 17 November 2021.
  35. Destructive Trojan, Techopedia, 19 November 2012.
  36. Proxy Trojan, Techopedia, 19 June 2014.
  37. Trojan-GameThief, encyclopedia by Kaspersky
  38. Trojan-Ransom, encyclopedia by Kaspersky
  39. Logic Bomb, Techopedia, 14 August 2015.
  40. Worm, Techopedia, 11 November 2016.
  41. What is a computer worm, and how does it work?, Norton by Symantec, 28 August 2019.
  42. Dropper, Techopedia, 30 November 2015.
  43. Ransomware, Techopedia, 11 July 2021.
  44. Allen Kim, In the last 10 months, 140 local governments, police stations and hospitals have been held hostage by ransomware attacks, CNN Business, 8 October 2019.
  45. Emily Sullivan, Ransomware Cyberattacks Knock Baltimore's City Services Offline, NPR, 21 May 2019.
  46. Adware, Techopedia, 25 January 2017.
  47. Spyware, Techopedia, 16 June 2017.