What is a Cyberattack: Definition, Examples & Prevention

A cyberattack is an act carried out by cybercriminals intended to compromise the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of data or systems. Cyber attackers employ a variety of tactics and techniques to exploit vulnerabilities, ranging from phishing to denial of service attacks, Cybercriminals steal, expose, alter, disable, or destroy data, applications, or other assets through unauthorized access to a network, computer system, or digital device.

The goal of a cyber attack can vary, depending on the attacker’s motivations. Some cyber attackers might aim to steal sensitive data for financial gain or corporate espionage, while others might seek to disrupt services or cause widespread chaos and destruction. In many cases, a breached computer or network can also act as a launch pad for subsequent attacks, thereby amplifying the threat and potential damage.

How do cyberattacks happen

Cybercriminals use a variety of methods to launch a cyber attack. Cyber attacks are designed to cause damage, and they can have many objectives, including stealing data, destroying information or data, changing data, disabling computers, achieving financial gain, espionage, activism, and sabotage.

Cyber attacks often happen in stages, starting with hackers finding vulnerabilities in a computer system’s defenses and exploiting them.

These are a few common types of cyberattacks:

Malware Attacks

Malware is a type of software designed to cause damage to a computer, server, or computer network. Whether it’s ransomware, spyware, or viruses, these malicious programs can steal or destroy data, monitor the user’s activity, or even gain control over system operations.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks use deceptive emails or websites to trick users into revealing sensitive information, like passwords or credit card numbers. The attacker usually impersonates a trusted entity to gain the victim’s trust.

Denial of Service Attacks

A denial of service attack (DoS) aims to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by overloading the system’s resources, causing it to crash.

Man-in-the-middle (MITM) Attack

A MitM attack involves intercepting communication between two parties to steal information or modify it.

SQL Injection Attack

An SQL injection attack involves inserting malicious code into a database query to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s files and demands payment in exchange for the decryption key.

There are many ransomware strains and ransomware groups, mostly with financial motivations. It is common for groups to practice the double extortion tactic, where not only the data is encrypted, but they also exfiltrate sensitive data and threaten to leak it if the victim does not pay the ransom.

Insider Threats

Insider threats involve employees or other insiders who use their authorized access to a system to steal or damage data. These threats can be intentional or unintentional and can manifest in various ways, including violence, espionage, sabotage, theft, and cyber acts.

Zero-Day Attacks

Zero-day attacks occur when a hacker exploits a software vulnerability before the vendor has had a chance to create a patch for it. The term ‘zero-day’ refers to the fact that developers have ‘zero days’ to fix the problem once the vulnerability becomes known.

Consequences of a cyberattack

The consequences of a cyberattack can range from minor disruption or inconvenience to severe financial loss, reputational damage, and even complete system destruction. In some cases, attacks can lead to a costly data breach that exposes confidential information or puts customers at risk for identity theft. In other cases, a successful attack may cause the disruption of services or even lead to the unavailability of systems.

Financial Loss

One of the most direct impacts of a cyber attack is financial loss. This can occur through direct theft of funds, the cost of ransom payments, or the loss of business resulting from reputational damage.

Reputational Damage

Cyber attacks can significantly damage a company’s reputation, resulting in a loss of customer trust, which can lead to a decline in business. Rebuilding a damaged reputation can take years and is often more costly than the actual financial loss from the attack.

Operational Downtime

Cyber attacks can cause significant operational downtime as systems need to be restored or replaced. During this downtime, regular business operations cannot proceed, leading to financial loss and further reputational damage.

Legal Consequences

If a cyber attack results in the loss or theft of sensitive data, businesses may face legal penalties and lawsuits. In many jurisdictions, companies are required to protect customer data and can be held accountable for its loss.

Cost of Recovery

After a cyber attack, businesses may have to invest large amounts of money in restoring systems, recovering lost data, and improving security infrastructure. These recovery costs can be significant, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Loss of Intellectual Property

Cyber attacks can result in intellectual property theft, which can have long-term effects on a company’s competitive position and market share. The stolen information can be sold or used to gain a competitive advantage.

Who are the cyber attackers and the common targets

The most common targets of cyberattacks are businesses, government agencies, and healthcare organizations. While the motivations behind an attack can vary widely, hackers typically target these entities in order to steal sensitive data for financial gain or corporate espionage.

Cyber attackers come from a variety of backgrounds and can include organized criminal groups and state-sponsored actors.

The Cybercriminals

Cyber attackers can range from individual freelance hackers to organized crime groups, or even state-sponsored entities. The motives behind such attacks can be monetary gain, political disruption, or simply to create chaos.

Common Targets

Common targets for cyberattacks include businesses, especially small to medium-sized enterprises which may not have robust security measures in place, government agencies, healthcare institutions, and individuals.

Businesses

Businesses, especially small to medium enterprises, are appealing targets for cybercriminals due to their often insufficient or outdated cybersecurity measures. Cybercriminals target businesses for financial gain, either directly through stealing sensitive financial information or indirectly by holding data for ransom.

Government Agencies

Government agencies hold a wealth of sensitive data, making them prime targets for cyberattacks. Attackers may seek to disrupt governmental operations, steal classified information, or cause widespread chaos and public mistrust.

Healthcare Institutions

Healthcare institutions are attractive targets due to the sensitive nature of the data they hold, such as patient records. These institutions often have outdated systems and lack robust cyber defense measures, making them vulnerable to attacks.

Individuals

Individuals are targeted in cyberattacks primarily for identity theft. Cybercriminals can use personal information to commit fraud, open new accounts, or perform illegal transactions.

Educational Institutions

Educational institutions, such as schools and universities, are attractive targets for cyberattacks due to the vast amount of personal and financial data they store. These institutions often lack the resources to implement strong cybersecurity measures, which adds to their vulnerability.

Financial and Legal Firms

Financial and legal firms are frequent targets of cyberattacks due to the sensitive financial information they store. Cybercriminals seek to steal highly valuable data or extort their victims for money.

How to prevent and mitigate cyberattacks

To defend against cyberattacks, it is important to adopt best practices such as using strong passwords, keeping systems and software up-to-date, and training employees on security protocols. Organizations should also monitor for malicious activity and have a comprehensive incident response plan in place to react quickly in the case of an attack. Here are 10 practical strategies to reduce cybersecurity risk for your organization:

1. Encrypt your data and create backups

Encrypting your data means converting it into a code to protect it from unauthorized access. Creating backups means making copies of your data to ensure that you can recover it in case of data loss or corruption.

2. Conduct regular employee training

Regular employee training is crucial to ensure that employees are aware of the latest cybersecurity threats and how to prevent them. Training should cover topics such as password management, phishing, and social engineering attacks.

3. Keep your systems and software updated

Keeping your systems and software updated means installing the latest security patches and updates to fix vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals.

4. Use strong passwords

Strong passwords are essential to protect against password attacks. Passwords should be complex, unique, and changed regularly.

5. Assess and manage third-party risks

Third-party vendors can pose a significant risk to your organization’s cybersecurity. It is essential to assess and manage these risks by conducting due diligence and monitoring their security practices.

6. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide additional information beyond a password to access a system.

7. Implement network segmentation

Network segmentation involves dividing a network into smaller subnetworks to limit the spread of cyberattacks.

8. Monitor for malicious activity

Monitoring for malicious activity involves using tools to detect and respond to cyber threats in real-time.

9. Have an incident response plan in place

An incident response plan outlines the steps to take in case of a cyberattack. It should include procedures for reporting incidents, containing the damage, and restoring systems.

10. Conduct regular security audits

Regular security audits involve reviewing your organization’s security practices to identify vulnerabilities and areas for improvement

What is the first thing to do after a cyberattack?

If you become a victim of a cyberattack, the first step is to contact your incident response provider and local authorities to report the attack. You also must contact your bank or credit card company if your financial data is compromised.

SalvageData cybersecurity experts can assess the damage and guide the recovery process. Then, after a cyber attack, do nothing to the infected machine to prevent further damage and immediately contact our data recovery team.

We are ready to assist you 24/7 with emergency services. All to guarantee quick recovery of your business and minimize the damage caused by the cyber attack.