If you are here chances are you wish to know what is a cyberattack and how to avoid them.
In recent years, cyberattacks have become a major problem for individuals and by extension governments around the world. As such it is imperative that we become educated about what it is and how to prevent it.
Here are the topics that we will be covering in today’s article
- What is a cyberattack;
- Four common types of cyberattacks,
- One example of a cyberattack within the United States; and
- 10 things that can be done to protect yourself from cyberattacks.
What is a cyber attack | Define the term cyberattack
A cyberattack is a deliberate attempt to gain access to restricted files on a computer, computing system, or network. The main goal of these cybercriminals is to steal, expose, alter, disable, or destroy confidential information, applications, or other assets.
Four common types of cyber attacks
There are many different forms of cyberattacks that occurs worldwide, four common types are;
- Malware: This is a type of computer program that exploits and harms any programable device or network. Some types of malware are viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and spyware. Malware can steal, encrypt, hijack data, delete, or alter core computing functions, and spy on your computer without your permission.
- Phishing: A phishing attack is the act of sending misleading emails as a trusted source to individuals to obtain their personal or banking information, passwords, and credit card numbers.
- Ransomware: This is a type of computer program that encrypts the user files, which is then used by the attacker to demand a ransom from the user to restore access to the files.
- Password attacks: Password attacks refer to attempts by a cybercriminal to obtain user passwords often done through brute force, dictionary attacks, or other methods.
One example of a cyber attack within the United States
One example of a cyberattack committed in the United States is the Equifax data breach in the year 2017.
Hackers accessed the personal information of 147 million individuals, about 44% of the population of the United States. The data they obtained included their names, social security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and in some cases license numbers, and credit card details.
This breach had severe consequences on the company and customers while also showing the critical need for cybersecurity.
10 things to do to protect yourself from cyber attacks
10 Things that you can do to protect yourself from cyberattacks are:
- Create strong passwords.
- Utilize multifactor authentication to enhance your computer security. This requires multiple forms of verification.
- Use a reputable antivirus software to detect and remove malware efficiently.
- Regularly update your operating system (OS) and other software to protect against exploitation and vulnerabilities.
- Do not click on suspicious links or e-mails that require your personal information without verifying their source, this could be an act of phishing.
- Encrypt and use strong passwords to protect your network from unauthorized access.
- Back up important information to the cloud or an external storage device to guard against data loss from cyberattacks.
- Educate employees on how to locate potential threats to your computer system or network.
- Utilize a firewall to monitor incoming and outgoing traffic.
- Minimize sharing personal information online to protect yourself from identity theft and social engineering attacks.