What is Cyber ​​Attack, Types, Safety Tips: What is cyber attack, how do hackers target, what are the ways to avoid it?

New Delhi. Stryker, the world’s largest medical equipment manufacturing company, has become a victim of a cyber attack. This cyber attack brought the company’s global network to a standstill. Wiper malware is said to be behind the attack. With this attack on Stryker, cyber attacks have once again come into limelight. Today we will tell you what a cyber attack is, how many types there are and how you can avoid it.

Just as a battle is fought to capture an area, similarly in the digital world, cyber attacks are carried out to gain access to a network. A cyber attack is an illegal attempt to penetrate, disrupt, or damage computer systems, networks, or digital devices. Its purpose is often to steal data, erase data or jam a system or website. In this, a single hacker or hacker group intrudes without permission into the digital resources of a person or organization such as computer, mobile, server, network or website.

In the 1980s and 1990s, hackers used to carry out cyber attacks using viruses and worms. More sophisticated malware, phishing, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks emerged in the 2000s. Advanced persistent threats (APTs), ransomware and state-sponsored cyber attacks emerged in the 2010s. Now all these illegal means are being used to carry out cyber attacks on any person’s electronic device or organization’s system.

What are the common cyber attacks?

Hackers adopt many tactics to gain access to a system and control data. These include-

Fishing: Phishing is the most common method of online attack used by hackers. In this, the attacker presents himself as a trusted source and sends a malicious email or social media message that appears genuine at first glance. The objective of the hacker behind sending the message is to steal the user’s name, password, credit card and other banking details.

Smishing: This is also a method of phishing attack which is usually done through an SMS. Usually SMS carries some tempting lure like information about winning a lottery. In this, the user is made to click on a link which takes him to a legitimate looking website. As soon as the details are filled there, the user’s information reaches the hackers.

Malware: This is a malicious software. It uses payload to gain access to the victim’s data. This software installs a program that contains many types of malware such as ransomware, spyware, trojans, worms, etc., which are designed to damage the system or network or delete and hijack the system’s data.

Denial of Services (DoS): A DoS attack is a brute force attack that aims to reduce the traffic of a system or website and take it offline. Attackers can flood a system or website with excessive traffic or send altered information that triggers a crash, rendering it inaccessible to others.

Man in the Middle (MITM): In this the attacker intercepts a communication between two parties. These parties can be between two users or between a user and an application or a system. The attacker presents himself as one of the two entities, making it appear as if both legitimate parties are communicating with each other. The attacker tracks the communication between the two. In this way, access to all the information shared between both the parties is taken.

World’s 5 most dangerous cyber attacks

There have been many such cyber attacks in the history of the world which shook not only computers but also the global economy, power grid and health services. Know about the 5 most dangerous and destructive cyber attacks-

• WannaCry Ransomware: This cyber attack that took place in the year 2017 is considered to be the most widespread ransomware attack so far. This attack targeted more than 2.3 lakh computers in 150 countries. Locked the Windows based system and demanded ransom in Bitcoin to return the system. Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was worst affected, due to which even surgeries had to be cancelled. There was a loss of 4 billion dollars in this cyber attack.
• NotPetya cyber attack: It is said to be the most expensive and destructive cyber attack in history. It was launched to target Ukraine but it spread all over the world. This was a wiper attack whose purpose was not to steal data but to destroy it. Big multinational companies were affected by this. Shipping giants Maersk and FedEx suffered billions in losses. The total loss was estimated at 10 billion dollars.
• Stuxnet (Stuxnet, 2010): This attack is known as ‘digital weapon’ in the cyber world. In this, a very complex worm was used to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. It overheated and destroyed the centrifuges installed in Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant. This was the first time that any software had destroyed a physical machine.
• SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack (SolarWinds, 2020): It is considered the most sophisticated espionage attack ever. Hackers inserted malware in the software update of an IT company named ‘SolarWinds’. Since thousands of government agencies and companies used this software, their systems got infected as soon as it was updated. Many top government agencies including the US Treasury, Pentagon and Nuclear Security Administration were affected.
• Yahoo Data Breach (Yahoo Data Breach, 2013-14): This was the world’s biggest attack in terms of data theft. In two separate cyber attacks, hackers had broken into Yahoo’s database. Names, emails, phone numbers and passwords of about 3 billion users were leaked. Due to this incident, Yahoo’s market value fell and its sale price had to be reduced by $350 million.

How to avoid cyber attack?

• Do not share your sensitive information like email ID, password, credit card details etc.
• Keep the password strong. Do not keep anything that can be easily guessed. Avoid using your name, date of birth or common passwords like 12345. Use different character and number combinations.
• Before clicking on the link, make sure the website is legitimate. Check for any spelling mistakes in the message or URL.
• Keep your system updated with the latest software updates.
• Keep scanning your system using reliable anti-virus software.
• Do not open or respond to spam messages and emails.
• Avoid using open Wi-Fi.
• Use a virtual private network (VPN) that creates a secure tunnel between you and the website.