Common Cybersecurity Threats

Cyber threats are malicious acts that can be conducted by hackers, with the goal of getting access to your data and hardware, and then steal them, damage them and/or use them to gain an advantage. Here are some of the most common threats.

Malware. This is malicious software, which was written with the goal of corrupting data, and sometimes can even destroy hardware.

Mobile malware. While the iOS ecosystem is deemed to be more secure in comparison with Android, the truth is that no mobile operating system is 100% safe. Some cyber criminals build applications which seem to be clean, so they are approved and pushed to the app stores, but later on those apps start downloading malware on their victims' phones and tablets.

Ransomware. This type of attack has become more prevalent in recent years, with many of the targets being governmental institutions, and sometimes even hospitals. Cyber criminals use software (usually activated by clicking an infected email link) to encrypt critical information. Then, they request a hefty sum in exchange for the data decryption key.

Cryptojacking. Lots of people have gotten involved in the cryptocurrency movement, and some cyber villains have built software that uses third-party computers to mine for cryptocurrencies, earning them money. That is often done by running malware which uses lots of CPU and video card resources, and this wastes energy, slows down the affected computers and leads to downtime.

Internet of Things gadgets attacks. IoT devices are a hot target for hackers, because many of them haven't been built with security in mind. There are dozens of billions of IoT devices in the world today. Unfortunately, some of the most popular gadgets send unencrypted data to their makers' servers, and when the receiving site doesn't even use the encrypted https protocol, man-in-the-middle attacks aren't just possible, but probable.

Phishing. This type of attack is carried through email. The attacker sends a message which includes one or more legit-looking links, and the victim clicks them; by doing this, a piece of malware is downloaded and installed on the victim's computer.

Social engineering. Hackers who conduct these types of cyber attacks use psychology to trick their victims, and then get access to personal and/or sensitive information.

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS). The attackers build a network of zombie devices, which have been silently infected with a virus, and then await their master's commands. This way, hackers can get access to networks of millions of devices throughout the entire world, and then use them to attack pretty much any site, making it crash because of the unexpected resource demands.

Man-in-the-middle attacks. This threat is encountered when the hacker manages to intercept, and then read the data packets that are exchanged between the senders and receivers.

State-sponsored cyber attacks. In this case, highly skilled, state-sponsored hackers use their knowledge to infiltrate other governments' networks, with the goal of attacking critical infrastructure. Private organizations can be targeted by the same individuals, of course.

As you can see, there are many different cybersecurity threats in the world today. And the bad news is that the barrier to entry is very low; most people are able to create an attack vector by making use of freely available tools. At the other side of the spectrum, we've got criminal organizations which have dozens of employees and are able to carry out attacks on industrial corporations and even governments.