Types of Cyber and Network Security Attacks

Securing a network and its resources requires understanding common cyberattacks. This tutorial introduces the most widely used network security attacks and explains how they are used to steal information and gain unauthorized access. Familiarity with these attack types lets you manage and secure your network more effectively.

Adversary

An adversary is an individual who targets a network for malicious purposes. Also referred to as a hacker or cracker. An adversary can initiate a range of attacks. The following are the most common types.

Reconnaissance Attack

In a reconnaissance attack, an adversary gathers information about a network, such as IP address ranges, server locations, operating systems, software versions, and device types. Ping, traceroute, and whois are the most common tools used for this purpose. The adversary then maps the network infrastructure to facilitate future attacks.

Passive attack

During a passive attack, an adversary uses sniffer tools or traffic analysis software to capture sensitive information from unencrypted network traffic. This may include clear-text passwords or authentication data obtained from unprotected communications. The adversary can then use this information for subsequent attacks, often without the user's awareness.

Active Attack

In an active attack, an adversary attempts to break or bypass security measures directly, rather than waiting for sensitive information to appear. Deploying viruses, worms, and Trojan horses; stealing login credentials; inserting malicious code; and penetrating network infrastructure are examples of active attacks. Active attacks are particularly dangerous, often resulting in data disclosure, modification, or loss.

Distributed attack

In a distributed attack, an adversary embeds malicious code within trusted software, which is then distributed to users over the internet without their knowledge. Once installed, the compromised software covertly transmits sensitive information to the adversary. Pirated software is frequently used for this purpose.

Insider Attack

Surveys indicate that over 70% of attacks originate from insiders. Insider attacks are categorized as either intentional or accidental. Intentional attacks involve deliberate damage to network infrastructure or data, often motivated by financial gain or revenge from disgruntled employees. Accidental attacks result from carelessness or insufficient knowledge.

Phishing Attack

Phishing attacks have grown significantly in recent years. In this type of attack, an adversary creates a fraudulent email address or website that closely resembles a legitimate one. The attacker sends convincing messages, often containing links to the fake site. Unsuspecting users may attempt to log in, inadvertently providing their authentication information, which the attacker then uses on the genuine site.

Hijack attack

This attack takes place between running sessions. The hacker joins a running session, silently disconnects the other party, and starts communicating with the active party using the disconnected party's identity. The active party believes it is communicating with the original party and may send sensitive information to the hacker.

Spoof attack

In a spoof attack, an adversary alters the source address of a packet to deceive the receiver into believing it originated from a trusted source. This method is often used to circumvent firewall rules.

Buffer overflow attack

A buffer overflow attack is a form of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack in which an adversary sends more data to an application than its buffer can accommodate, causing the application to fail. This technique is commonly used to disrupt services or servers.

Exploit attack

An exploit attack typically follows a reconnaissance attack. After identifying the operating system or software running on a target system, the adversary exploits known vulnerabilities within that software or operating system.

Password attack

In this attack, an adversary tries to log in with a guessed password. Two popular methods for this attack are dictionary and brute force. In the brute force method, an adversary tries all possible combinations. In the dictionary method, an adversary tries a word list of potential passwords.

Packet-capturing attack

This attack is part of the passive attack. In this attack, an attacker uses packet-capturing software to capture all packets from the wire. Later, these packets are used to extract sensitive and confidential information.

Ping sweep attack

In a ping sweep attack, an adversary sends ping requests to all possible IP addresses within a subnet to identify active hosts. The attacker then scans open ports to determine which services are running and subsequently attempts to exploit any associated vulnerabilities.

DNS Query attack

DNS queries are used to obtain information about public servers on the Internet. Operating systems provide tools such as nslookup (Windows), dig, and host (Linux) for this purpose. These tools retrieve details like server IP addresses, email servers, and technical contacts from DNS servers. Adversaries may leverage this information to conduct phishing or ping attacks.

MiTM attacks

In this attack, an adversary captures data in transit, modifies it, and retransmits it to the destination. The receiving person believes this message originated with the original source. This is known as a Man-in-the-Middle attack.

DoS attack

A DoS attack is a series of attacks. In this attack, an adversary tries to misuse legitimate services. Several networking tools are available for troubleshooting. An attacker uses these tools for evil purposes. For example, the ping command is used to test the connectivity between two hosts. An adversary can use this command to continuously send oversized ping requests to a host. In such a situation, the target host becomes too busy replying to ping requests to run other services.

Conclusion

Understanding various types of cyber and network security attacks is crucial for safeguarding networks against unauthorized access. Familiarity with common attack methods and associated terminology enhances your ability to identify threats and implement proactive defense strategies.