As the world quickly adopts digital frameworks, cyber threats are becoming increasingly common. These attacks can cause data to be lost or stolen and disrupt our daily lives. They come in many different forms, including computer viruses, DoS (Denial of Service) attacks, and other similar acts.
What are Cyber Threats?
Cyber or cybersecurity threats are malicious acts that aim to damage data, steal it, and disrupt digital life. These malicious events negatively affect an organization’s operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), infrastructure security, assets of an organization(s), and/or countries through unauthorized access to information systems.
Types of Cyber Threats
These are the most common types of cyber threats:
- Malware
- Phishing
- Spear Phishing
- “Man in the Middle” (MitM) attack
- Trojans
- Ransomware
- Denial of Service attack or Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS)
- Attacks on IoT devices
- Data breaches
- Malware on mobile apps
The list of cyber attacks is extensive and continues to grow with the increased number of platforms that are vulnerable to hacking, such as organizations, enterprises, or individuals who hold valuable information or keys to access. Cyber attacks are initiated by threats from:
- Terrorists
- Criminal groups
- Business intelligence operators
- Individuals and groups “trolling” the cyber world in search of victims
- Bot-network operators
- Disgruntled insiders
- National intelligence and psychological operations organizations
- Spammers
- Spyware or malware programmers