One of the best ways to protect your business from this threat is by knowing the different types of attacks and taking preventive measures to secure your networks. Usually, cyberattacks are of two types. Some target the security loopholes created by human error, negligence, or employee turnover. Whereas other attacks target security gaps in the networks themselves.
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Password-based Attacks
In password-based attacks, the hackers smartly use some software and brute force attacks to access protected accounts. This password-cracking software can test several potential passwords as users usually follow a pattern of using an upper case, lower case, and punctuation mark while creating a password. Therefore, it becomes easy for the hackers and these password hacking devices to guess the password to access your secured account.
The best way to protect your account is to create a random password that does not follow a pattern. Also, you can use long passwords as guessing them is not an easy job for the machines.
Furthermore, be sure to use different passwords for business and personal uses. Change them regularly and consider using a password manager, as it will make everything easier.
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Invisible Systematic Risk
Another mode of cybersecurity attack can be a system attack due to negligence in performing regular patching activity to secure the server and choosing not to update the software to save budget. These actions create a gap in the sense of security and increase the risk to the system's software.
You can eliminate this problem by recognising the problem, reporting it, and discussing systematic risk for security management. Moreover, invest to upgrade your old hardware and software to tighten your system's security.
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Social Engineering Attack
Social engineering attacks include password phishing emails. Under this, hackers reach out to their targets by copying the email format of companies like Amazon, Flipkart, American Express, or PayPal. Hackers do this to attract potential victims and hope that they will click on the email and enter their banking details.
The majority of attacks are part of spear phishing, and this is a strategic move where spoof emails are carefully customised to deceive the receiver.
To prevent your business from social engineering attacks, you should train & educate the employees to spot the spam emails. Moreover, encourage the employees to be extra cautious before entering their personal information like bank details.
Moreover, you can implement two-factor authentication for secure login. It includes receiving a login OTP SMS on a registered mobile number. You can also install phishing detector applications that include email filters, firewalls, and anti-virus software. It automatically gives a warning or alert if they detect something suspicious.
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Social Media Attacks
You might fall into the trap of a social media attack through spam friend requests and invitations to page like or play games. Here the target will accept the request or invitation and grant access to you to take advantage of your profile.
As a business owner, you can use a single platform to operate the company's social media accounts and educate your social media team to prevent hacks. Additionally, do not share the passwords for these accounts.
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Malware refers to malicious software. It is in the form of viruses, Trojan horses, and worms to encrypt the important files.
The best way to protect your system from malware attacks is by having software protected by installing anti-virus and updating your firewalls.
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Denial-of-service Attacks
A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack occurs when hackers flood a website with excessive traffic, overloading its servers and making it inaccessible to legitimate users. A more severe form of this is a DDoS Attack (Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack), where multiple compromised systems work together to crash a website, making recovery even more challenging.
Although these attacks may not directly steal money, they can disrupt online sales, reduce website traffic, and harm a company’s reputation. E-commerce platforms, media houses, law firms, and government organizations are often prime targets.
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Eavesdropping Attack
In this, hackers secretly listen to the data that move through a network. They secretly access your passwords, bank card details, and other sensitive data. They hack the website where users usually share their private information.
To prevent your system from eavesdropping attacks, use data encryption in transit.
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In a man-in-the-middle attack, the data flow gets disrupted between the users and the servers. The hacker steps in the middle of this data transmission process. Moreover, a user is not aware of the data breach.
To prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, enhance the security of your website. As a user, enter any confidential information to the website that has HTTPS in its URL instead of HTTP. Avoid using a website that warns you about the site's security certificate is out-of-date or not updated.
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Drive-by Download Attacks
With this technique of attack, hackers try to spread malware by casting a wide net to attack specific targets. When you visit this site, the webserver code automatically downloads malware or redirects you to any corrupted site. Another mode of drive-by-download is through pop-up notifications or spam emails.
To shield your system from this attack, keep your firewall software updated. Try to keep minimum apps and plugins installed on your device as these increase the chances of attack.
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