What is a cyberattack?

A cyberattack is an attempt by cybercriminals, hackers or other digital adversaries to access a computer network or system, usually for the purpose of altering, stealing, destroying or exposing information.

Cyberattacks can target a wide range of victims from individual users to enterprises or even governments. When targeting businesses or other organizations, the hacker’s goal is usually to access sensitive and valuable company resources, such as intellectual property (IP), customer data or payment details.

The most common types of cyberattacks are-

1. Malware
2. Denial-of-Service(DoS) attacks
3. Phishing
4. Spoofing
5. Identity-based attacks
6. Code Injection Attacks
7. Supply Chain Attacks
8. Social Engineering Attacks
9. Insider Threats
10. DNS Tunneling
11. IoT-Based Attacks
12. AI- Powered Attacks

1. Malware

Malware — or malicious software — is any program or code that is created with the intent to do harm to a computer, network or server. Malware is the most common type of cyberattack, mostly because this term encompasses many subsets such as ransomware, trojans, spyware, viruses, worms, keyloggers, bots, cryptojacking, and any other type of malware attack that leverages software in a malicious way.

2. Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is a malicious, targeted attack that floods a network with false requests in order to disrupt business operations.

In a DoS attack, users are unable to perform routine and necessary tasks, such as accessing email, websites, online accounts or other resources that are operated by a compromised computer or network. While most DoS attacks do not result in lost data and are typically resolved without paying a ransom, they cost the organization time, money and other resources in order to restore critical business operations.

The difference between DoS and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks has to do with the origin of the attack. DoS attacks originate from just one system while DDoS attacks are launched from multiple systems. DDoS attacks are faster and harder to block than DOS attacks because multiple systems must be identified and neutralized to halt the attack.

3. Phishing

Phishing is a type of cyberattack that uses email, SMS, phone, social media, and social engineering techniques to entice a victim to share sensitive information — such as passwords or account numbers — or to download a malicious file that will install viruses on their computer or phone.

Common phishing attacks include:

4. Spoofing

Spoofing is a technique through which a cybercriminal disguises themselves as a known or trusted source. In so doing, the adversary is able to engage with the target and access their systems or devices with the ultimate goal of stealing information, extorting money or installing malware or other harmful software on the device.

Spoofing can take different forms, which include:

5. Identity-based attacks

Identity-driven attacks are extremely hard to detect. When a valid user’s credentials have been compromised and an adversary is masquerading as that user, it is often very difficult to differentiate between the user’s typical behavior and that of the hacker using traditional security measures and tools.

Some on the most common identity-based attacks include:

6. Code injection attacks

Code injection attacks consist of an attacker injecting malicious code into a vulnerable computer or network to change its course of action. There are multiple types of code injection attacks:

7. Supply chain attacks

A supply chain attack is a type of cyberattack that targets a trusted third-party vendor who offers services or software vital to the supply chain. Software supply chain attacks inject malicious code into an application in order to infect all users of an app, while hardware supply chain attacks compromise physical components for the same purpose. Software supply chains are particularly vulnerable because modern software is not written from scratch: rather, it involves many off-the-shelf components, such as third-party APIs, open source code and proprietary code from software vendors.

8. Social engineering attacks

Social engineering is a technique where attackers use psychological tactics to manipulate people into taking a desired action. Through the use of powerful motivators like love, money, fear, and status, attackers can gather sensitive information that they can later use to either extort the organization or leverage such information for a competitive advantage.

Examples of social engineering attacks include:

9. Insider threats

IT teams that solely focus on finding adversaries external to the organization only see half the picture. Insider threats are internal actors such as current or former employees that pose danger to an organization because they have direct access to the company network, sensitive data, and IP as well as knowledge of business processes, company policies, or other information that would help carry out such an attack.

Internal actors that pose a threat to an organization tend to be malicious in nature. Some motivators include financial gain in exchange for selling confidential information on the dark web and/or emotional coercion such as the ones used in social engineering tactics. But some insider threats are not malicious in nature — instead, they are negligent. To combat this, organizations should implement a comprehensive cybersecurity training program that teaches stakeholders to be aware of any potential attacks, including those potentially performed by an insider.

10. DNS tunneling

DNS Tunneling is a type of cyberattack that leverages domain name system (DNS) queries and responses to bypass traditional security measures and transmit data and code within the network.

Once infected, the hacker can freely engage in command-and-control activities. This tunnel gives the hacker a route to unleash malware and/or to extract data, IP or other sensitive information by encoding it bit by bit in a series of DNS responses.

DNS tunneling attacks have increased in recent years, in part because they are relatively simple to deploy. Tunneling toolkits and guides are even readily accessible online through mainstream sites like YouTube.

11. IoT-based attacks

An internet of things (IoT) attack is any cyberattack that targets an IoT device or network. Once compromised, the hacker can assume control of the device, steal data, or join a group of infected devices to create a botnet to launch DoS or DDoS attacks

Given that the number of connected devices is expected to grow rapidly, cybersecurity experts expect IoT infections to grow as well. Furthermore, the deployment of 5G networks, which will fuel the use of connected devices, may also lead to an uptick in attacks.

What are IoT devices?

IoT devices include traditional endpoints — such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and servers — as well as nontraditional devices, such as printers, cameras, appliances, smart watches, health trackers, navigation systems, smart locks, or smart thermostats.

12. AI-powered attacks

As AI and ML technology improves, the number of use cases has also increased. Just as cybersecurity professionals leverage AI and ML to protect their online environments, attackers also leverage these tools to get access to a network or steal sensitive information.

Examples of AI-powered cyberattacks include:

How to protect against cyberattacks

A comprehensive cybersecurity strategy is absolutely essential in today’s connected world. From a business perspective, securing the organization’s digital assets has the obvious benefit of reducing the risk of loss, theft, destruction, and the potential need to pay a ransom to regain control of company data or systems. Employing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy can help organizations prevent or quickly remediate cyberattacks and minimize the impact of these events on business operations.

Finally, when an organization takes steps to deter adversaries, it protects the brand from the reputational harm often associated with cyberattacks — especially those that involve the loss of customer data.

Below are some recommendations we offered in the CrowdStrike 2024 Global Threat Report to help organizations improve their security posture and ensure cybersecurity readiness:

• Protect All Workloads: You must secure all critical areas of enterprise risk, including endpoints and cloud workloads, identity, and data.
• Know Your Adversary: Crowd Strike Falcon^® Adversary Intelligence identifies today’s bad actors and exposes their playbooks to enable security teams to proactively optimize preventions, strengthen defenses, and accelerate incident response.
• Be Ready When Every Second Counts: Security teams of all sizes must invest in speed and agility for their daily and tactical decision-making by automating preventive detection, investigation, and response workflows with integrated cyber threat intelligence directly observed from the front lines.
• Adopt Zero Trust: Because today’s global economy requires data to be accessible from anywhere at any time, it is critical to adopt a Zero Trust model. The Crowd Strike^® Zero Trust solution connects your machines to identity and data to deliver full Zero Trust protection.
• Monitor the Criminal Underground: Adversaries congregate to collaborate using a variety of hidden messaging platforms and dark web forums. Leverage digital risk monitoring tools like Falcon Adversary Intelligence to monitor imminent threats to your brand, identities, or data.
• Invest in Elite Threat Hunting: The combination of technology with expert threat hunters is absolutely mandatory to see and stop the most sophisticated threats. Top-quality managed services such as Crowd Strike Falcon^® Complete and Crowd Strike Falcon^® Adversary Over Watch can help you close the growing cyber skills gap with the expertise, resources, and coverage needed to augment your team.
• Build a Comprehensive Cybersecurity Training Program: User awareness programs should be initiated to combat the continued threat of phishing and related social engineering techniques.