What Are Cyber Threats and What to Do About Them

A cyber attack is an attack that is mounted against us by means of cyberspace. Cyberspace, a virtual space that doesn’t exist, has become the metaphor to help us understand digital weaponry that intends to harm us. Best practices to help prevent an IoT attack include updating the OS and keeping a strong password for every IoT device on your network, and changing passwords often.

When a tech vendor discovers a security flaw in their product, they typically write code that fixes or “patches” the problem. Nation-states are the sources of many of the most serious attacks. There are several different versions of nation-state cyber threats. Some are basic espionage— trying to learn another country’s national secrets. Motives for data breaches include crime (i.e. identity theft), a desire to embarrass an institution (e.g. Edward Snowden or the DNC hack), and espionage.

A whale-phishing attack is so-named because it goes after the “big fish” or whales of an organization, which typically include those in the C-suite or others in charge of the organization. These individuals are likely to possess information that can be valuable to attackers, such as proprietary information about the business or its operations. Reducing the risk of a cyber attack relies on using a combination of skilled security professionals, processes and technology. Man-in-the-middle, or MitM, where attackers secretly insert themselves between two parties, such as individual computer users and their financial institution.

The intent might be to inflict reputational damage or harm to a business or person, or theft of valuable data. Cyber attacks can target individuals, groups, organizations, or governments. Cybercriminals use many different methods to launch a Cyber cyber attack, a phishing attack, an exploitation of compromised credentials, and more. From this initial access, cybercriminals can go on to achieve different objectives including malware infections, ransomware, denial of service attack, data theft, and more. A cyberattack occurs when cybercriminals try to gain illegal access to electronic data stored on a computer or a network. Cyberattacks can target individuals, groups, organizations, or governments.

In other configurations, an access number is generated on a handheld device that the user has to log in to. The user can only access the secure area if both the password and the number are correct. In July 2020, Twitter was breached by a group of three attackers, who took over popular Twitter accounts. They used social engineering attacks to steal employee credentials and gain access to the company’s internal management systems, later identified by Twitter as vishing .

Likewise, the personally motivated, such as disgruntled current or former employees, will take money, data or a mere chance to disrupt a company's system. Socio-political motivated attackers seek attention for their causes. As a result, they make their attacks known to the public—also known as hacktivism.

Crime reports are used for investigative and intelligence purposes. Rapid reporting can also help support the recovery of lost funds. Visit ic3.gov for more information, including tips and information about current crime trends.