Cyberattacks can be costly for companies and organizations in terms of both costs and reputational damage. A breach can cost companies and organizations lost customers, regulatory fines, productivity loss and more.
There are a variety of cyber attacks, from phishing scams and malware infections (which encrypt data or block access until victims pay ransom) to DDoS attacks (which render websites or networks inoperable). To stay safe, take care when opening unknown emails and click any unknown links. To stay protected, always question suspicious emails before clicking them or completing any transactions from suspicious links.
1. Drive-By Attacks
Drive-by attacks are cyberattacks which secretly download malicious files onto a victim’s device without their knowledge or consent. Hackers frequently employ exploit kits – sets of tools used by hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in web browsers, plugins and operating systems — in this attack type. Once attackers gain entry they can change files, steal information or recruit their computer into botnets.
Drive-by attacks typically use phishing campaigns or other techniques that convince victims to open malicious attachments, click links and access other forms of online malware. Once hackers gain access to someone’s system, they can use it to gain personal and financial data such as names, addresses, email accounts security numbers financial info etc. They could also encrypt files or disable systems so it cannot be accessed until a ransom fee is paid by their victims.
These attacks can be extremely detrimental to businesses, leading to lost revenue, customers leaving and damage to reputations. Furthermore, these cyber attacks pose the threat of exposing confidential information such as research & development details or customer records that businesses depend on for survival.
Chinese hackers reportedly broke into the network of a Nebraska lawmaker in 2023 and gained personal and political emails by exploiting a Microsoft vulnerability which allowed them to gain user password access. Later in 2024, Iranian hackers attacked Merit Systems Protection Board with cryptocurrency mining software which temporarily stopped train operations for several hours.
Other notable breaches have involved Russian hackers breaking into dozens of Swedish government agencies’ networks and disrupting services during elections; Chinese hackers attacking communications at an U.S. military base on Guam; and state-sponsored hackers using espionage tactics against multiple countries.
2. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Attacks
Hackers use web application vulnerabilities to exploit, which allows them to display malicious code to website users. Typically, it enters via forms or input fields and displays itself upon display of website pages.
Businesses may find it challenging to quickly determine whether they’ve been the target of an XSS attack; however, steps can be taken to protect themselves. Security and IT teams can scan websites for this type of threat according to guidelines from expert security bodies like OWASP; additionally they may look out for signs such as redirects or inappropriate content appearing.
XSS attacks can be very damaging to businesses. They may lead to sensitive data being stolen and used by attackers or can even result in the damage of one’s reputation, particularly if hackers gain access to public websites or social media accounts and alter information posted therein.
XSS attacks can be difficult for non-technical employees to identify. Businesses typically only realize they’ve experienced an XSS attack after it has already happened–for instance when hackers steal credit card data or alter transfer amounts on banking websites.
An XSS attack’s effects will vary based on its size, ease of execution, and authentication requirements; typically though, an attack’s most devastating consequence will be information theft – from passwords and personal details to cookies or session data being stolen by attackers. It could even redirect a page to one of their competitor’s sites or alter content presentation altogether.
3. Man-in-the-Middle Attacks (MitM)
MitM attacks (Man-in-the-Middle attacks or MitM) are forms of cyber eavesdropping whereby an attacker intercepts and alters communication between two parties who think they’re directly talking with each other. A MitM attack involves three parties – victim, entity contacted for communication purposes and an attacker who secretly intercepts data transmission.
This type of attack takes various forms, from phishing and spoofing attacks to SSL stripping techniques that convert secure connections into unencrypted ones. An attacker impersonating a reliable website, email server or login portal in order to deceive users into divulging sensitive data like passwords, bank account details or credit card numbers.
Intercepted data can then be utilized for malicious uses. This may include espionage – where attackers use intercepted communications between employees or competitors to gain an edge; as well as theft of confidential or proprietary information which could result in legal issues and severe financial losses for businesses; it can even be used to distribute malware and ransomware against victims.
MitM attacks are particularly dangerous because they are designed to be infiltrated into conversations without either party knowing. Any information or conversation not properly protected could be susceptible to an attack, from financial transactions on an online banking application to conversations among friends over an instant messaging service. Attackers could also use IoT devices that have become ubiquitous across industries such as manufacturing, energy supply, healthcare and critical infrastructure to launch attacks. Software updates can help prevent various types of MitM attacks, as they often contain patches for vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Furthermore, intrusion detection systems can identify any suspicious activities and alert administrators of potential risks.
4. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks
DDoS attacks pose a serious cybersecurity threat that inhibits access to servers, devices, networks, applications and even specific transactions within these systems. Unlike regular cyberattacks that target one system directly, a DDoS involves multiple infected online devices – known as botnets – infected with malware that flood a target website or server with fake traffic – overwhelming its bandwidth capacity and becoming hard to block while frustrating users trying to gain entry to targeted site or service.
DDoS attacks can have devastating repercussions for any business or organization, from education institutions to retail stores and gaming platforms. Education institutions experience downtime that negatively impacts student experiences as well as disrupts crucial admissions or exam processes, while retail stores and gaming platforms may incur considerable revenue loss during peak shopping seasons due to missed sales goals. DDoS attacks may even target media and political websites, potentially restricting freedom of expression while heightening geopolitical tensions.
DDoS attacks are becoming more frequent and severe. Beyond using botnets to generate high traffic volumes, attackers are now turning to spoofing and amplification techniques to hide the source of their attack and make it more difficult to detect and block. Amplification techniques include altering IP packets so as to hide or obscure information within their header or using third-party services that “reply” in place of attackers.
DDoS attacks have become more accessible thanks to tools available for rent on dark web marketplaces known as booters and stressers, lowering the barrier of entry for malicious actors. Cybercriminals can use these attacks-for-hire tools such as booters and stressers to launch large DDoS attacks against multiple targets simultaneously; such as volumetric ICMP, UDP, SYN, NTP or DNS Amplification attacks; application layer DDoS where attackers seek to overwhelm an entire website’s request pipeline with fraudulent requests – or simply to disrupt services used by cybercriminals awash with DDoS tools from booters and stressers available through dark web marketplaces such as booters and stressers can help criminals launch larger DDoS attacks that attack multiple targets simultaneously; DDoS can either use volumestricity as volumetric attack techniques against multiple targets at once; or be application layer attacks where attackers attempt to flood request pipelines with malicious requests that overwhelm it all together.
5. Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is malware that encrypts files, systems or networks and blocks access until victims pay a ransom fee to decrypt or restore them. These attacks have become increasingly frequent and affect any company – from state, local, tribal and territorial governments and critical infrastructure organizations to any private businesses. Often criminals blackmail companies by threatening to publish or sell the stolen data or authentication credentials if the ransom payment isn’t met in time.
Attackers use various techniques to gain entry to computers and networks, including social engineering techniques like wire transfer phishing (where an employee opens a malicious file attached to an email asking them for payment of a fraudulent invoice), system vulnerabilities and system memory parsing tools used for hashed password re-encryption to gain unauthorized access.
Cyberattacks can have devastating repercussions for businesses, from lost productivity and revenue to potential employee departure. A 2021 ransomware attack against a food and beverage manufacturer was caused by an infected Word document sent from an compromised email account containing ransomware; even though they declined paying the ransom they spent significant sums restoring all systems back online before resume operations.
Patching software and operating systems regularly is one effective way of mitigating ransomware attacks, and educating employees to recognize it and notify authorities immediately is another key component. A robust backup and disaster recovery plan will help quickly restore all affected data after an attack has taken place, as will having an experienced cybersecurity team on standby for monitoring cyberattacks and responding to them as quickly as possible.