Can anyone truly argue that pollution was a direct result of the Industrial Revolution? Not likely. Similarly, it is a common understanding that security vulnerabilities come with increased connectivity.
There are many forms of Cyber Security Attacks that plague individuals and companies on a daily, even hourly basis. While it’s nearly impossible to defend against all cyber attacks, it is important to familiarize yourself with each technique. And, better yet, have a plan for protecting yourself and your company from common attacks.
Here Are the Top Five Cyber Security Password Attacks
Dictionary
A Dictionary Cyber Attack is a technique for defeating a password by trying to determine the passphrase. The person or machine tries hundreds even millions of common words found in a dictionary. Dictionary attacks work because many businesses and computer users rely on using ordinary words as passwords.
Brute Force
A Brute Force Cyber Attack is a trial and error method used by application programs. It tries to decode encrypted data like passwords through exhaustive efforts using brute force. It’s used in place of intellectual strategies.
Denial of Service
A Denial of Service Cyber Attack happens when a perpetrator attempts to make a device or network resource unavailable to its users. They temporarily or indefinitely disrupt the service of a host connected to the Internet. It is typically accomplished by flooding the device with prolific requests in an attempt to overload the system.
Distributed Denial of Service Attack
A Distributed Denial of Service Cyber Attack is just like a Denial of Service attack only the perpetrator uses multiple IP addresses. The incoming traffic flooding the device is coming from many different sources.
Social Engineering
Social Engineering Cyber Attacks are not only becoming more common, they’re also becoming increasingly sophisticated. Cyber criminals use tricky tactics to get humans to break standard security practices. The goal of the attacker is to gain legitimate and authorized access to sensitive data and confidential information. Commonly, Social Engineering Cyber Attacks involve email or other communication methods that evoke urgency.
While no one is immune to cyber risk, there are steps you can take to minimize your chances of an incident.
- Set strong passwords and change them regularly
- Keep your operating system, browser, and all software optimized with updates
- Use privacy settings
- Limit the amount of personal information you post online
- Beware of honey pots and online bogus offers
- Never click on a link in an email where you are unsure of the validity of the sender
For a complete understanding of how to protect you and your company from cyber attacks, download our Password Management Guide.