It’s no secret that hackers are becoming more and more successful. Why is that?
Attack techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated and many people know too little about them.
Today we are shedding some light on the subject! We also show you what you can do if you are faced with one of these threats.
The Best-Known Techniques
Computer viruses are infectious structures that spread outside computers as malware programs, but can only multiply as viruses within a suitable host computer.
Meaning: A virus is “harmless” as long as you don’t catch it and let it into your computer.
An example from everyday life: as long as you do not open an email attachment containing the virus, the virus cannot do anything.
So simply delete the email and the disaster can be averted.
Most people are probably familiar with the wooden building with hidden soldiers for the city of Troy. And everyone knows how the story ended. Trojans hide themselves in “useful” programs or documents. As with viruses, they only activate themselves when they are called up or opened. Unlike a virus, a Trojan can act independently of its program and cause damage. However, it cannot copy itself and does not spread independently. And unfortunately it is not enough to destroy the Trojan horse – because the soldiers are already inside. The usual Trojans try to pass on data such as passwords or credit card numbers to the Agamemnon/Odysseus of the Trojan, i.e. the author. However, many also have ransomware that releases the data they have encrypted in return for a ransom.
The best-known bait in phishing is probably the fake email. It has a link to the “account” of the victim’s bank or online store, where they are supposed to confirm something or cancel a purchase. However, there are other lures that have become more common recently: fake text messages (also known as smishing) and websites. The same principle, just a different approach. If you fall for it, your login details and other personal data are spied on and exploited. Needless to say, this will not be in the victim’s best interest. How can you protect yourself against phishing? Watch out: Is the source trustworthy? The destination? For example, is the URL of the link reputable? What do you do if you realize that it is a phishing attack?
Don’t just carry on! Instead, as with all cyber attacks, inform the IT department.
The Slow Burning Spies
The eavesdropper on the wall hears his own shame… or information to launch an attack. It depends. Sniffer software monitors data traffic in real time. This is not a bad thing in itself, because you can use such software to detect anomalies. But where there is light, there are also shadows. And so this type of software is also used by cyber criminals. Unencrypted or weakly encrypted passwords are easily intercepted. Or it can be used to find out which protocols are used by whom to communicate with whom. And cyber criminals can use this information to launch the actual attack. How do you protect yourself? As sniffing attacks are very difficult to detect, preventive measures are best. Be careful; don’t download everything just because you can; don’t use insecure connections; have secure passwords (change them regularly); keep firewalls installed and up-to-date; etc. The benefits of awareness training are of course undeniable. If you need a good instructor, just fill out the contact form.
Unlike viruses, they do not need a computer host. And unlike Trojans, they can copy and spread themselves.
Worms search the address lists of e-mail contacts and send an e-mail with a copy of themselves. They can also install other malware programs or security holes (a wormhole, if you like) and are often combined with a virus or Trojan.
For example, the infamous “Wannacry” crypto Trojan included a network worm. It sent a copy of itself to the first 50 email contacts and installed the DoublePulsar backdoor. (Incidentally, this incident is an excellent example of how important it is to install security updates early – immediately). So here are some questions for self-checking:
- Is my computer up to date with the latest software?
- Have I not yet installed any security updates?
Am I taking this seriously?
Those Who Pretend to Be Someone Else
There are four different types: – IP spoofing: Fake IP address so that the attacked computer thinks the data packets are coming from a trusted, known computer. It is used for man-in-the-middle attacks. – DNS spoofing: The assignment of the IP address to the corresponding domain name is falsified and the data traffic is redirected to another computer. It is used for phishing. – Mail spoofing: A false e-mail sender address is displayed. There is probably no need to explain what this can be used for. – Call ID spoofing: A fake or stolen telephone number is displayed during the call. This makes it impossible to trace who has called and possibly obtained private confidential data. Here too, the following applies: check at the outset whether the email/link/caller is legitimate. Do not naively believe everything you are told.
In movies, when the young woman simply believes the shady villain, you grab your head and scream: “NOOOOO!” But giving your personal data or bank details to a buyer who has a very secure payment method is of course completely legitimate. Yes… the social engineers have it in them. And they are becoming ever more cunning. Social engineering is flourishing like never before. You’d think that in our enlightened times, nobody would fall for it anymore. Wrong. People’s tendency to trust and their willingness to help are often exploited quickly and effectively. Calls from a hacked bank or from grandchildren in need of help, emails from landlords with new bank accounts, very friendly buyers with foolproof payment methods, … there is much more. There are plenty of videos on the Internet from whitehats (the good hackers) that show how quickly and easily personal and sensitive data can be obtained using social engineering. What helps? Three words: IT security awareness training.
Anyone who wants to increase awareness among themselves and their employees is welcome to contact us.
Normally, nobody likes to be caught between two stools. Or likes being the third wheel. But in the case of the man-in-the-middle attack, the attacker really likes being the third wheel. The attacker “sits” between two (or more) computers that are communicating with each other. However, he doesn’t just listen, but controls and/or manipulates the data traffic. They can intercept and read the exchanged information or cut off the forwarding. And much more besides. But nobody notices any of this. You think you are actually communicating with the person you want to. The “man-in-the-middle” is like a manipulative stalker. How do you give this stalker access? He gains access himself, to the networks connected to the computers. A popular method is to pretend to be a WLAN access point. Or the cybercriminal places himself between the bank server and the user’s browser and receives a signal when the user wants to log in to his bank account. Therefore: Please only use SSL/TLS-secured connections! Please DO NOT use freely accessible VPNs or proxy servers!
The Often Forgotten Methods
If you’re constantly told that you’re ill, you’ll believe it at some point. And you buy medicine or go to the doctor. This is exactly what scareware does. This malware uses warning messages about alleged security risks to convince you that something is wrong and that you urgently need this or that product (malvertising). Please sign here and pay so and so much. That’s the best case scenario. The worst case would be if you catch another malware with the useless newly installed program. Scareware is also often associated with social engineering, so that the “curative” product is branded with the logos of reputable cybersecurity programs. Or it is displayed how much of the computer has already been “scanned”. This is all intended to reassure you and give the program enough time to install itself. Then “the cat owns you”. As with spyware, you need a cyber security program (this time a real one) to remove scareware.
The straw that broke the camel’s back… (seemingly) small things can have a big impact. The DoS attack (#denialofservice) uses precisely this principle. An online store, for example, is bombarded with so many requests that the system collapses. Amazon and Yahoo have already been paralyzed in this way. This type of attack used to be more common, but now they have become less frequent. But that doesn’t mean they should be underestimated today. After all, a non-functioning online store is a no-go. How do you ward off such an attack? The best way is through prevention. Install a security system beforehand – if everything is still good. This then recognizes IP reputation, frequent attack patterns and previous data and can thus distinguish an attack from high traffic. Such a system intelligently reduces malicious bot traffic and absorbs the rest of the data traffic.
A backdoor in the IT sector is software that allows the author to gain access to the computer or a protected function of the computer by bypassing the security devices. In principle, a secret passageway is created in the house and then cyber criminals can enter and leave through such a stylish secret door in the bookshelf. And your security and alarm system won’t notice a thing. Unlike a Trojan: if you delete this backdoor, no one can access your computer. So if you’re worried that there’s a secret door somewhere in your house – find it and wall it up!
Yes, the methods used by hackers are varied and sophisticated. What can help? Always be informed and alert yourself and keep your eyes open.
And as a manager: make sure that your employees are aware of the dangers and learn how to act correctly. Do you want to know how secure YOUR company is? Do you want independent advice on how and what can be implemented? Let’s talk about it!
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