Network Attacks

Network Attacks

1. Malware

   • This is software that is specifically designed to gain access or damage a computer without the knowledge of the owner. There are various types of malware including spyware, keyloggers, true viruses, worms, or any type of malicious code that infiltrates a computer.

2. Phishing

   • Brute force attack
     • Brute force (also known as brute force cracking) is a trial and error method used by application programs to decode encrypted data such as passwords or Data Encryption Standard (DES) keys, through exhaustive effort (using brute force) rather than employing intellectual strategies.
   • Phishing scams are attempts by scammers to trick you into giving out personal information such as your bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers.

3. Trojan Horse

   • One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer. The term comes from the a Greek story of the Trojan War, in which the Greeks give a giant wooden horse to their foes, the Trojans, ostensibly as a peace offering.

4. Denial of service

   • A denial-of-service (DoS) is any type of attack where the attackers (hackers) attempt to prevent legitimate users from accessing the service. In a DoS attack, the attacker usually sends excessive messages asking the network or server to authenticate requests that have invalid return addresses.

5. Social Engineering

   • Social engineering is a term that encompasses a broad spectrum of malicious activity. For the purposes of this article, however, we will focus on the five most common attack types that social engineers use to target their victims: phishing, pretexting, baiting, quid pro quo and tailgating.

6. Man in the middle

   • In cryptography and computer security, a man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) is an attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.

7. Data Interception

   • When packets travel across a network, they are susceptible to being read, altered, or “hijacked.” Hijacking occurs when a hostile party intercepts a network traffic session and poses as one of the session endpoints. An attacker monitors data streams to or from a target, in order to gather sensitive information.