TYPES OF CYBER ATTACKS

Malware — Short for malicious software, malware can refer to any kind of software, no matter how it's structured or operated, that "is a designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network,"as Microsoft puts it. Worms, viruses, and trojans are all varieties of malware, distinguished from one another by the means by which they reproduce and spread. These attacks may render the computer or network inoperable, or grant the attacker root access so they can control the system remotely.

Phishing — Phishing is a technique by which cybercriminals craft emails to fool a target into taking some harmful action. The recipient might be tricked into downloading malware that's disguised as an important document, for instance, or urged to click on a link that takes them to a fake website where they'll be asked for sensitive information like bank usernames and passwords. Many phishing emails are relatively crude and emailed to thousands of potential victims, but some are specifically crafted for valuable target individuals to try to get them to part with useful information.

Ransomware — Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts a victim's files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon payment. Users are shown instructions for how to pay a fee to get the decryption key. The costs can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, and are typically payable to cybercriminals in cyptocurrency.

Denial of service — A denial of service attack is a brute force method to try stop some online service from working properly. For instance, attackers might send so much traffic to a website or so many requests to a database that it overwhelms those systems ability to function, making them unavailable to anybody. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack uses an army of computers, usually compromised by malware and under the control of cybercriminals, to funnel the traffic towards the targets.

Man in the middle — A man in the middle attack (MITM) is a method by which attackers manage to interpose themselves secretly between the user and a web service they're trying to access. For instance, an attacker might set up a Wi-Fi network with a login screen designed to mimic a hotel network; once a user logs in, the attacker can harvest any information that user sends, including banking passwords.

Cryptojacking — Cryptojacking is a specialized attack that involves getting someone else's computer to do the work of generating cryptocurrency for you (a process called mining in crypto lingo). The attackers will either install malware on the victim's computer to perform the necessary calculations, or sometimes run the code in JavaScript that executes in the victim's browser.