CYBERATTACKERS: AN INFOGRAPHIC GUIDE
Hey everyone, after a long time writing about “Networking”, I came up with a new interesting topic related to “Cybersecurity”. Cyberattacks are the reason why we need a cybersecurity. So, in this blog we’ll be discussing about Cyber attacks and cyber attackers. Let’s hop into the topic!
Attackers are a group of people or individuals who attempt to exploit vulnerability to gain personal or financial data. Now, we can classify the attackers into different categories based on how they exploit and what is their motive.
Types of Attackers
Amateurs
The term “script kiddies” refers to amateur or inexperienced hackers who use existing tools or techniques on the internet to launch attacks. While white hat attackers may use basic tools, their attacks can still have devastating consequences.
Hackers
They are group of attackers who break into computer systems or networks to gain access. Based on the intent of their break in, they can be classified into the following categories.
- White hat hackers: They break into networks or systems to identify the vulnerabilities that are present in order to improve the security. These break-in are done with prior permission from the organization or owner and the results are reported back to them.
- Grey hat hackers: They may set out to find vulnerabilities in a system, but they will report to owners only if doing so coincides with their agenda. Or they might even publish about the vulnerabilities on the internet so that other attackers could exploit it.
- Black hat hackers: They take advantage of the vulnerabilities for illegal, personal or political purposes.
Organized Hackers
These attackers include organizations of cyber criminals, hacktivists, terrorists and state-sponsored hackers. They are usually highly organized, and may even provide cybercrime as a service to other criminals. State-sponsored attackers gather intelligence or commit damages to other systems on behalf of their government. They are usually highly trained and well-funded and their attacks are focused on specific goals that are beneficial to their government.
Internal and External Threats
Cyberattacks may originate from within an organization as well as outside the organization.
Internal threats
The following activities of employees in an organization could lead to a threat. Employees can be accidentally or intentionally:
- mishandle confidential data
- facilitate outside attacks by connecting infected USB media into the organization’s computer systems
- invite malware onto the organization’s network by clicking on malicious emails or links
External threats
Attackers outside of the organization can:
- exploit vulnerabilities in the network or system
- gain unauthorized access to computing devices
- use social engineering to gain unauthorized access to organizational data
We can conclude that profile of a cyber attacker varies depending on their goals, motivations and capabilities. At the extreme, the attackers can launch cyber attacks launch attacks against nations and states, compromising their computer systems and networks.
