System Threats

System Threats

1. Malware

   • A piece of software written to infect computers and commit crimes such as fraud and identity theft.
     • By exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems and browsers, malware can sneak malicious Trojan horse programs onto unsecured PCs.
       • Users can also download Trojans, thinking they are legitimate game, music player, movie, and greeting card files.
         • Trojans have traditionally hidden in worms and viruses spread by email, but they’re increasingly showing up in instant messages and mobile phones.

2. Phishing

   • Phishing is an online fraud technique used by criminals to entice you to disclose personal information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details.
     • It does this by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
       • It is the fastest rising online crime method used for stealing personal financial information and perpetrating identity theft.
         • A common phishing practice involves spamming recipients with a fake message under the name of a trusted institution. The purpose of this fake message is to trick you into providing personal information.

3. Brute Force Attack

   • A brute force attack is a trial and error method
     • It is used by programs to decode encrypted data such as passwords or Data Encryption Standard (DES) keys
       • through exhaustive effort rather than employing intellectual strategies.

4. Denial of Service Attack

   • Flooding a server with useless traffic causes servers to become overloaded preventing them responding to legitimate client-server requests from users.
     • Many DoS attacks, such as the Ping of Death and Teardrop attacks, exploit limitations in the TCP/IP protocols.
       • DDoS is a type of attack where multiple compromised systems, which are often infected with a Trojan, are used to target a single system causing a Denial of Service attack.

5. Data Interception and Theft

   • An attacker monitors data streams to or from a target, in order to gather sensitive information.
     • . This attack usually involves sniffing network traffic.
       • Sniffing or eavesdropping is the act of monitoring traffic on the network for data such as plaintext passwords or configuration information.
         • With a simple packet sniffer program, an attacker can easily read all plaintext traffic.

6. SQL Injection