The 5 Most Common Types Of Cybercrime Attacks

The 5 Most Common Types Of Cybercrime Attacks

Recharge your lightsaber because it’s time to step into the arena for an epic battle. There are countless hackers who are ready to send your business to the Dark Side. All it takes is a bit of ransomware or a data breach to render your website useless – and this can be prevented by knowing about some of the most common cybercrime attacks hitting your side of the galaxy.

Here are 5 of the most common types of cyber attacks:

  • Denial of Service (DoS)
  • Password Attack
  • SQL Injection
  • Phishing
  • Man in the Middle (MitM) Attacks

Regardless of whether you’re a full-fledged Jedi or a padawan, you’re going to need to know about the various hacker threats that are out there.

Denial of Service (DoS)

One of the most common and devastating cybercrime attacks is known as a denial-of-service or DoS. This is when system resources are flooded to the point that it can’t respond to service requests. The hackers aren’t going to gain access to any data on your site. It is simply for them to have the satisfaction of watching your site fail.

There are many types of DoS attacks. Regardless of the attack, it can render your site useless until you get a recovery plan in place. Particularly if you are an e-commerce site, it can be devastating as your customers won’t be able to access your site and place orders. For every hour that your site is under attack, it can cost you significant amounts of money. At that point, it’s as if stormtroopers are standing guard at your site, preventing anyone in.

When you have hacked sites in this capacity, it’s important to take measures to prevent such an attack in the future – and this includes installing a firewall and maintaining current antivirus software.

Password Attack

Passwords are the most common way to authenticate users when accessing an information system. It’s what you use to get logged into WordPress, the bank, your cloud, and everything else. In many instances, passwords aren’t encrypted. Some passwords are also so simple that a hacker can guess their way into your information system.

Brute-force password guessing involves a random approach while dictionary attacks use a dictionary of common passwords.

Using an account lockout policy can ensure that accounts are locked once there have been a few failed password attempts. This way, it doesn’t give hackers an endless number of tries to gain access to your system.

It’s also a good idea to teach any employees that you have about how to set up a password using a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters.

SQL Injection Attack

The 5 Most Common Types Of Cybercrime Attacks

If you have a database-driven website, you may also be vulnerable to an SQL injection attack. SQL commands are placed into the input field to run a specific query. All it takes is a command to be placed into the login entry instead of an actual username and password.

With threat modeling in place, it means that attackers can choose what kind of threat they want to offer – a spoof of identity, tampering with data, or even voiding transactions. It can wreak havoc on your data and make it difficult for you to gain control of your database once more – especially if they make themselves the new administrator.

Phishing

Phishing has been going on for years. It’s when an email is sent that looks like it’s from a trusted source. The email will ask you for personal information or ask for you to follow a link where it looks like a legitimate website. This kind of technical trickery could be like inviting the Death Star over to a dinner party. You could end up handing over usernames, passwords, and all sorts of other information to the Dark Side.

Spear phishing is another form that involves more specific targeting. The attacker actually takes the time to research more about who you are so that the messages are personal and relevant.

There are plenty of ways to prevent phishing by educating your employees on how to spot phishing emails. Some of the ways that you can reduce the risks include:

  • Analyzing email headers
  • Hover over the links in the email
  • Test an email in a sandbox environment

Phishing usually works because the website looks legitimate. The hackers depend on employees not knowing any better, and it is usually an uneducated employee that opens your company up to vulnerability.

Man in the Middle (MitM) Attacks

MitM attacks are becoming more common. It’s when a hacker gets in the way of you communicating with your server. Session hijacking, for example, happens when the hacker’s computer uses its IP address for the trusted client-server. As a result, the server continues the session because it believes it’s communicating with you, not a hacker. When this happens, a hacker’s computer can gain full control of your server. You’re completely disconnected, leaving you vulnerable.

IP spoofing is another form of a MITM attack. Basically, it interrupts the communication with any trusted entity, such as your bank, your company’s intraweb, or anything else. It can lead to a significant amount of malware when this happens, too.

How to Protect Your Website From Cybercrime Attacks

It’s important to know how you can protect your website and your business against various cybercrime attacks. With WordPress maintenance, you can navigate the galaxies and get the repairs in place.

Most of the cybercrime attacks that hit your website and your business can be avoided. It’s all a matter of having the right protection in place. Firewalls and virus protection can go a long way. Additionally, if there is an attack, you need to know where to turn to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

The good news is that you don’t have to trek all the way out to Dagobah to seek the help of a Jedi Master. Instead, you can rely on us at WP Farm. We’re here to help you keep your WordPress website protected against all of the different threats that are out there. We can show you how to update virus protection and even repair a website that has already been attacked.

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