Potential Threats

Potential Threats

1. Viruses

   • What is a Virus?
     • A virus is a software program that is designed to copy and copy itself over and over again and attach itself to files and programs.
     • Trojans
       • A trojan program can appear to be just a harmless application but will run in the background preforming something malicious. Trogan has to make the user click it
         • For example, a program might claim to “clean your computer up” or “make your computer faster”. As soon as you have downloaded it and clicked run, you’ve given permission for that program to install
     • Worm
       • A computer worm behaves in a similar way to a virus, but it does not necessarily harm files. Instead, it tries to copy itself so many times that the whole system runs out of resources and crashes. does not have to make the user click it

2. Malware

   • Adware
     • Adware is malware which can force your browser to display unwanted pop-up advertisements. Clicking these could result in more infections.
   • Spyware
     • Spyware stays hidden out of view and is designed to spy on your computer, looking for personal information, passwords and so on.
   • Scareware
     • Scareware will cause a pop-up to appear on your screen which will say something like 'Your computer has a virus. To clear the problem please purchase this software', and a link is provided in the pop-up.
   • Ransomware
     • Ransomware encrypts critical files and data, making them unusable. Eventually it presents the user with a ransom, demanding money be sent to the attackers to unlock the system or files.
       • WannaCry in 2017
       • NHS 2017
       • Bad Rabbit 2019

3. Rootkits

   • Rootkits give other people permissions and access to your computer, allowing them to take it over remotely and do whatever they like.

4. Phishing

   • Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. E.G. emails, text messages.

5. Social Engineering

   • Social engineering is the term used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human interactions. It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information. Social engineering attacks happen in one or more steps. A perpetrator first investigates the intended victim to gather necessary background information, such as potential points of entry and weak security protocols, needed to proceed with the attack.

6. Poor Network Policy

   • As well as malware, other things can threaten a network, including the people using it. Poor network policies tend not to have: levels of access to prevent users from accessing sensitive data unless they are authorised to do so rules preventing the connection of external devices such as USB memory sticks which may contain and transmit viruses

7. Brute force attacks

   • Brute-force attacks work by calculating every possible combination that could make up a password and testing it to see if it is the correct password
   • The resources required for a brute-force attack grow exponentially with increasing key size, not linearly
   • There are many methods to stop or prevent brute force attacks. The most obvious is a strong password policy. Each web application or public server should enforce the use of strong passwords.

8. DDoS

   • The purpose of the DDoS attack primarily includes politics, competitions, revenge, war, and criminal activities

9. SQL injection

   • SQL injection (SQLI) is a technique that allows a user to inject SQL commands into the database engine from a vulnerable application. By leveraging the syntax and capabilities of SQL, the attacker can influence the query passed to the back-end database in order to extract sensible information or to get control over the database.