Our previous blog discussed the absolute need to protect against cyber-attacks. In this blog we will explore and define some of the most common cyber-attacks.

• Identity theft – Any “attack” which causes a person’s personal identifiable characteristics to be stolen and used fraudulently. Some common forms include: stealing credit card information and using another person’s social security number to apply for a financial transaction.

• Ransomeware – Is a type of malicious “attack” which can block access to a facility’s own network and/or data or can threaten to publish data unless a “ransom’ is paid.

• Malware – This is a broad term to describe a software “attack” which gives access to a computer or network often without the user’s knowledge. Malware is short for malicious software and common examples include: adware, bots, bugs, rootkits, spyware, Trojan horses, viruses, and worms.

• Denial of Service (DoS) – This is an “attack” in which a facility’s website is overwhelmed with traffic. The DoS may be triggered by a specific event or can be a malicious barrage of traffic intent on creating an organizational disruption.

• Man in the Middle – This is an “attack” where an Internet “conversation” between two endpoints of an online information exchange is interrupted or altered. This is simply a sophisticated form of electronic eavesdropping where a person(s) is able to gain information from this “conversation”.

• Phishing(pronounced fishing) An “attack” which baits you to give out personal information by utilizing some form of electronic communication most commonly emails, often disguised a coming from a legitimate source. Phishing now has several versions of the same theme:

Spear Phishing – A form of targeted phishing, may appear to come from a known business associate asking for personal or business information.

Smishing and Vishing scam – A version of phishing that use SMS (text) and voice communications to solicit information. These types have variations in which a facility may receive a phone call or text from a legitimate sounding business requesting information or an email requesting a facility call or text this information.

Whaling – This is another form of a targeted phishing where the intended target is the CEO, CFO or other high-level executive (whale) at a facility.

This is certainly not an all-inclusive list of cyber-attacks. As long as there are people with nefarious intent and the access to a computer the threat will be present. Also as technology evolves so will the threat. In our next blog, we explore how to detect and protect against these cyber-attacks.