Is your organization vulnerable to cyber-attacks? While you may think you’re safe, the plethora of cyber threats increases by the minute. Their variety and sheer number are growing exponentially, and small- and medium-sized companies are some of the top targets of cyber criminals.
Here is the continuation of our Part I with the most common and dangerous attacks in the ongoing cyberwar.
What are the most common types of cyber-attacks?
Here are the other six cyber threats — complementing the first five reviewed in Part I — that we see affecting businesses from all venues across the world.
Local file inclusion
Local file inclusion is a common type of inclusion attack. When using this method, attackers can make a web application execute or reveal files on a server. They do that by using a code vulnerability to replace the file path that web applications use for input. The application is then tricked into running a harmful script. On some occasions, it may even be able to upload malicious files.
Local file inclusion attacks can lead to illegitimate exposure of private data, credentials, and more. They can be used for further attacks, such as cross-site scripting (XSS in Part I) and execution of remote code.
Zero-day exploit
Zero-day exploits bet on catching a system unprepared in the very early days of its existence. The attackers exploit the short time period before discovering a vulnerability and the release or implementation of its patch by its creators.
Since the vulnerability is not known yet or the prevention measure created to fix it is not yet applied, zero-day exploits can be quite damaging. In fact, developers may not discover the reason for an attack for a long time — just to figure out eventually that it was a zero-day exploit of a vulnerability they hadn’t foreseen.
Malware
Malware is a broad concept that includes various types of very common cyber attacks. By executing malicious files, malware attacks aim to gain access to hard drive data, gain control and deny access to critical parts of a system and even make a system stop functioning.
The most well-known kinds of malware include viruses, trojans, worms, and spyware, among others. Viruses work by attaching to the initialization sequences of applications and infecting whole systems. Trojans hide within other applications to allow attackers to execute exploitation attacks.
Worms are distributed widely and replicate themselves to overload a server and thus complete denial-of-service attacks (DoS attacks in Part I). As for spyware, it gathers data about users and systems and then abuses it for blackmailing or other malware installation.
SQL injections
Among the well-known code injection attacks, SQL injections are one of the most common types. They are among the OWASP Top 10 Security Risks. It’s estimated that as much as 8% of web applications and websites have a minimum of one vulnerability to an SQL injection.
To execute an SQL injection, the attacker inputs malicious code through the interface of a legitimate user. More specifically, SQL queries are inserted to gain illegitimate access to backed databases of web applications.
Once this access has been obtained, the attacker can get user credentials and system data. They can also add and delete records from the database, as well as use the back-end server to reach and damage the operating system.
There are different kinds of SQL injection attacks, including in-band, error-based, union-based, blind, content-based, time-based, and out-of-band.
Man-in-the-Middle attack
The Man-in-the-Middle attack (MITM) is not a new type of cyber threat, as it has been discovered already in the 1980s. It rose to popularity in recent years with the unprecedented growth of everything digital.
In a nutshell, MITM is the process of intercepting data or communication that’s being transferred from a sender to a receiver. It can entail the interception of data sent between a web client and a server. Alternatively, it can also be meddling in the private messaging between users on communication platforms.
In both cases, the attacker takes a position in the middle — usually eavesdropping on the data exchange or conversation between the two legitimate parties. It’s also possible to send malicious files to the victims.
The attacker pretends to be one of the legitimate users and in this way, can get access to private data such as bank information, usernames and passwords, and more. MITM attacks can be used for identity theft and financial forgeries, as well as a range of other cyber crimes.
Brute-force attack
In executing brute-force attacks, cybercriminals count on the method of trial and error to forcefully gain access to login credentials, encryption keys, and similar data. These can be used to access emails, online platforms, e-commerce websites, banking websites, and many more sensitive accounts.
The attacker submits a huge amount of variants in an effort to find the correct one set by the legitimate user. They can bet on careful and systematic checking of password options, or on an exhaustive key search through the key derivation function of passwords.
By breaking into accounts, cybercriminals can steal sensitive data, hijack systems, spread malware, and even ruin a company’s reputation.
AMATAS is your trusted cybersecurity partner
In the current digital landscape, it’s essential to have a powerful partner who can help you stay on top of cyber threats.
AMATAS is here to assist your cybersecurity strategy and implementation so that you can protect your organization from 360 degrees.
Our Managed Extended Detection & Response is designed to provide complete security for your business. The 24/7 monitoring by cyber specialists ensures that
your processes and intellectual property are not susceptible to cyber threats.
To get started, just contact us today to learn how AMATAS can help.
