Written by: Jay H.
Network attacks are growing threats businesses face. Although your network is necessary for your organization’s operations, when a bad guy gets in, they can wreak havoc. Luckily, you can learn about the different types of network attacks and defend your business against them.
Types Of Network Attacks
There are many types of network attacks, and the most prominent include:
1. Distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS)
Simply speaking, a DDoS attack is a strategy actors use to prevent others from accessing a web server, application, or service by flooding it with requests. Unfortunately, attackers don’t even need to get into your network to execute this assault, and even unsavvy malefactors can carry out this task.
2. Man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM)
Without end-to-end encryption in place, hackers can intercept network traffic. This gives attackers the ability to steal information, hijack sessions, and obtain credentials. Public Wi-Fi networks are a common source of MITM attacks.
3. Unauthorized access
Social engineering (i.e., phishing attacks) or brute-forcing weak passwords can give attackers access to user accounts. Then, depending on the compromised account’s privileges, hackers may have unlimited access to everything on the network.
4. SQL injection attacks
Attackers inject malicious code using vulnerable user inputs within a web page or application. Then, these SQL commands are executed in the database, letting hackers gain access to the entire data set. Using this stolen data, hackers can find user credentials and modify or damage information.
5. Insider threats
Unfortunately, someone you trusted with access to the network could be a threat actor. Although we don’t like to consider this a possibility, more than 34 percent of businesses globally are impacted by insider threats every year. Moreover, insider threats are difficult to detect since they are users with rightful access to the network.
How To Prevent Network Attacks
You can protect yourself from network attacks using various methods, including:
- Securing your router with a strong password and firewall.
- Applying the latest updates to all software.
- Looking out for phishing attempts.
- Using a VPN on an unknown or public Wi-Fi network.
- Browsing websites secured with HTTPS.
- Using strong and unique passwords and multi-factor authentication.
- Using a reputable antivirus application.
- Limiting the privileges user accounts have to the bare minimum.
- Validating inputs and parameterized queries with prepared statements.
- Utilizing behaviour analytics to detect suspicious user behaviour.
- Educating users on cybersecurity threats, such as phishing attempts.
- Partnering with a reputable managed IT services provider such as Design2Web to handle your network security.
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