Learn about today's top 10 cyber attacks

1. Backdoor

Backdoor is a type of trojan that gives the attacker access to the infected system and allows remote control. With these permissions, the cybercriminal can open, modify and delete files, run programs, install malicious software and send out mass emails.

2. Phishing

Phishing is a method along the lines of social engineering that takes advantage of a user's trust to steal their data. The cybercriminal impersonates a legitimate person or institution to deceive the user. Therefore, phishing can happen in many ways, either in instant messenger conversations or in fake e-mail links.

3. Spoofing

Spoofing is related to the spoofing of IP addresses, DNS and emails. With this practice, criminals can fake a trusted IP source, edit the header of an email to appear legitimate, or modify the DNS to redirect a particular domain name to another IP address

4. URL manipulation

The URL manipulation attack is used by some hackers to make the server transmit pages that it would not be authorized to access. In practice, the user only has access to links that are provided by the website page. If the user manually changes the URL, he can test various combinations to arrive at an address that hides a sandbox

5. DoS (Denial Of Service) Attack

DoS attack, translated as denial of service, overloads a server or computer with a high volume of packet requests. As it cannot handle the requests, the system is no longer able to respond, becoming unavailable. So this is not an invasion.

6. DDoS attack

While a DoS attack only involves a computer making multiple requests for packets to a server, it cannot bring down more robust systems. Therefore, there is a more advanced technique, the DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service).

7. Direct Memory Access (DMA) Attack

The Direct Memory Access attack is a function that allows the machine's hardware to have direct access to the RAM memory without going through the processor, thus speeding up the computer's throughput and processing.

This feature, however, can be used by hackers to access data from RAM memory through a peripheral, even without specific software.

8. Eavesdropping

In the eavesdropping attack, the hacker uses different e-mail, instant messaging and telephony systems, as well as internet services, to violate the victim's confidentiality, stealing their data and using them in an improper way later. The word means to eavesdrop, and it's basically what the criminal does, not modifying the information, just intercepting and storing it.

9. Decoy

In this type of attack called decoy, the hacker simulates a legitimate program so that the user logs in and stores their information, which can be used by the attacker.

10. Shoulder Surfing

Shoulder surfing is an English expression that means “to look over the shoulder”. As such, it is not a technology or a tool, but an act of looking at a user's screen while he is accessing sensitive data.