Network Security Threats

Network Security Threats

1. Brute Force Attack

   • It is when software is used to try different combinations of passwords to gain unauthorised access to a computer system
   • You can prevent this by using strong passwords, using 2 step verifications to comfirm your identity and lock any accounts after a certain amount of login attempts

2. Computer Virus

   • Inserts themselves in normal programs. Can replicate themselves and transfer from one computer to another. They are activated by a user often as email attachments and attachment to other files and programs

3. Phishing

   • It is normally an email or text messaging scam where victims are conned into believing that they are being contacted by an authentic organisations and can give sensitive personal details

4. Spyware

   • It records the activity on your computer such as your keystrokes, thereby logging your passwords for instance and then sending the data back over the network to the attack instigator

5. Trojan Horse

   • Gains access to a computer by pretending to be a legitimate software. The trojan allows unauthorised backdoor access to a computer without the user being aware

6. DDoS Attack

   • It is when the network server is over-loaded with data packets so that t isn't able to run because it is overwhelmed
   • You can prevent this by using a firewall to control which programs can send and receive data packets

7. Computer Worm

   • It spreads like viruses but do not require human intervention. They attach themselves to network tools to spread automatically around a network very quicky

8. Blagging (Pretexting)

   • It is when fraudsters make up a scenario to con victims into revealing something they would not ordinarily do. They may have found some info about you from social media sites, to pretend they already know you

9. Adware

   • It includes banners and popups that are automatically installed onto a computer. Whilst this does not cause any damage, adware is undesirable and can slow down the performance of a computer

10. Shoulder Surfing

    • It is when fraudsters look over the shoulder of users to see what passwords or PIN numbers are being typed into the device