Definition from TechTarget

Cyber attacks aim to disable, disrupt, destroy or control computer systems or to alter, block, delete, manipulate or steal the data held within these systems.
They're identified as nation-state attackers, and they've been accused of attacking the IT infrastructure of other governments, as well as nongovernment entities, such as businesses, nonprofits and utilities.
Nation-state attackers are behind some of these types of attacks.
Governments around the world are also involved in cyber attacks, with many national governments acknowledging or being suspected of designing and executing attacks against other countries as part of ongoing political, economic or social disputes.
Threat actors use various techniques to launch cyber attacks, depending in large part on whether they're attacking a targeted or an untargeted entity.
In a targeted attack, the threat actors are going after a specific organization and the methods used vary depending on the attack's objectives.
Cyber attacks often happen in stages, starting with hackers surveying or scanning for vulnerabilities or access points, initiating the initial compromise and then executing the full attack - whether it's stealing valuable data, disabling the computer systems or both.
Depending on the actual attack details, this type of attack can be more specifically classified as a man-in-the-browser attack, monster-in-the-middle attack or a machine-in-the-middle attack.
DDoS attacks are similar to DoS attacks in that they flood a target's system with large volumes of false data requests at one time.
The difference between DoS and DDoS attacks is that DDoS attacks use multiple sources to generate false traffic, whereas DoS attacks use a single source.
There's no guaranteed way for any organization to prevent a cyber attack, but there are several cybersecurity best practices they can follow to reduce the risk.
Preventing attempted attacks from actually entering the organization's IT systems.
Implementing perimeter defenses, such as firewalls, to help block attack attempts and access to known malicious domains.
Using software to protect against malware, namely antivirus software, thereby adding another layer of protection against cyber attacks.
Several months before that, the massive SolarWinds attack breached U.S. federal agencies, infrastructure and private corporations in what is believed to be among the worst cyberespionage attacks inflicted on the U.S. On Dec. 13, 2020, Austin-based IT management software company SolarWinds was hit by a supply chain attack that compromised updates for its Orion software platform.
These cyber attacks are sometimes paired with physical attacks, while at other times, they're aimed at peering inside Ukrainian servers for information gathering.
The Petya attacks in 2016, which were followed by the NotPetya attacks of 2017, hit targets around the world, causing more than $10 billion in damage.
The types of cyber attacks, as well as their sophistication, also grew during the first two decades of the 21st century - particularly during the COVID pandemic when, starting in early 2020, organizations enabled remote work en masse and exposed a host of potential attack vectors in the process.
Then came Trojan horse, ransomware and DDoS attacks, which became more destructive and notorious with names such as WannaCry, Petya and NotPetya - all ransomware attack vectors.
Attackers have been finding ransomware techniques that yield better results for the attackers.


This Cyber News was published on www.techtarget.com. Publication date: Tue, 12 Dec 2023 22:43:05 +0000


Cyber News related to Definition from TechTarget

CISA confirms compromise of its Ivanti systems - CISA confirmed two of its internal systems were breached by a threat actor that exploited flaws in Ivanti products used by the U.S. cybersecurity agency. Ivanti on Jan. 10 disclosed two zero-day vulnerabilities that were under exploitation by a ...
7 months ago Techtarget.com
LockBit claim about hacking U.S. Federal Reserve fizzles - The LockBit ransomware gang claimed it had breached the U.S. Federal Reserve, but it ultimately leaked data belonging to a single bank. On June 23, LockBit listed the U.S. Federal Reserve on its data leak site and claimed to have obtained roughly 33 ...
4 months ago Techtarget.com
CVE-2023-6194 - In Eclipse Memory Analyzer versions 0.7 to 1.14.0, report definition XML files are not filtered to prohibit document type definition (DTD) references to external entities. This means that if a user chooses to use a malicious report definition XML ...
10 months ago Tenable.com
Akamai discloses zero-click exploit for Microsoft Outlook - While examining a previous bypass mitigation, Akamai Technologies discovered two new Windows vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to create a zero-click exploit against Microsoft Outlook clients. In a two-part report published Monday, Akamai ...
10 months ago Techtarget.com
CISA posts incident response guide for water utilities - CISA warned of cyberthreats against the water and wastewater sector in an incident response guide published Thursday. The incident response guide, which the U.S. cybersecurity agency published jointly with the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency, ...
9 months ago Techtarget.com
Sophos: Remote ransomware attacks on SMBs increasing - Sophos researchers observed a shift in threat activity against small businesses in 2023, including a surge in remote ransomware attacks, according to new research published Tuesday. Although the vendor said ransomware continues to be the primary ...
7 months ago Techtarget.com
Exploitation activity increasing on Fortinet vulnerability - Exploitation activity appears to be ramping up against a critical Fortinet vulnerability that was disclosed and patched last month. In a security advisory on Feb. 8, Fortinet detailed a zero-day vulnerability in FortiOS, tracked as CVE-2024-21762 or ...
7 months ago Techtarget.com
How AI could bolster software supply chain security - SAN FRANCISCO - While supply chain risks remain prevalent across enterprises of all sizes, Synopsys' Tim Mackey said AI tools will enable developers more than attackers - at least for now. Supply chain security was a significant topic that speakers ...
5 months ago Techtarget.com
Check Point discovers vulnerability tied to VPN attacks - Check Point Software Technologies disclosed a zero-day vulnerability connected to recent attempted attacks against its VPN technology. The cybersecurity vendor advised customers against using password-only authentication for local accounts and issued ...
5 months ago Techtarget.com
MoveIt Transfer vulnerability targeted amid disclosure drama - Another vulnerability in Progress Software's MoveIt Transfer product is under attack amid an apparent leak of flaw. In security alerts published on Tuesday, Progress detailed two critical improper authentication vulnerabilities, one tracked as ...
4 months ago Techtarget.com
New Relic CEO sets observability strategy for the AI age - The executive that replaced Gary Steele as CEO at Proofpoint when Steele left for Splunk has now followed Steele's path from cybersecurity to the helm of an observability company. Ashan Willy was appointed CEO at New Relic in December, a month after ...
4 months ago Techtarget.com
TeamViewer breached by Russian state actor Midnight Blizzard - TeamViewer's corporate network was breached this week in an attack that the remote access software vendor attributed to Russian state-sponsored threat actor Midnight Blizzard. The company wrote at the time that it immediately began an investigation ...
4 months ago Techtarget.com
Risk & Repeat: Inside the Microsoft SFI progress report | TechTarget - But will the changes be enough to prevent a repeat of the Storm-0558 attack? How much technical debt is Microsoft facing in its effort to improve security? What does the SFI progress report say about the current state of SecOps? TechTarget editors ...
1 month ago Techtarget.com
T-Mobile reaches $31.5M breach settlement with FCC | TechTarget - "With companies like T-Mobile and other telecom service providers operating in a space where national security and consumer protection interests overlap, we are focused on ensuring critical technical changes are made to telecommunications networks to ...
1 month ago Techtarget.com
Microsoft security overhaul offers blueprint for SecOps | TechTarget - 23, nearly a year after Microsoft kicked off the initiative in response to a scathing report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Safety Review Board about a "cascade of security failures" that led to a breach of email systems ...
1 month ago Techtarget.com
Microsoft SFI progress report elicits cautious optimism | TechTarget - "After a year, it looks like Microsoft has made some smart and substantive initial progress in elevating security across the whole organization: investment in security-focused head count, inclusion of security into performance reports across the ...
1 month ago Techtarget.com
CVE-2021-32754 - FlowDroid is a data flow analysis tool. FlowDroid versions prior to 2.9.0 contained an XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability that allowed an attacker who had control over the source/sink definition file in XML format to read files from external ...
3 years ago
CVE-2023-33947 - The Object module in Liferay Portal 7.4.3.4 through 7.4.3.60, and Liferay DXP 7.4 before update 61 does not segment object definition by virtual instance in search which allows remote authenticated users in one virtual instance to view object ...
1 year ago
DevSecOps: Definition, Benefits and Best Practices - DevSecOps is an approach that focuses on the alignment of the three core pillars of DevOps — Development, Operations, and Security. It’s a combination of processes, tools and practices designed to enable organizations to adopt innovative and ...
1 year ago Heimdalsecurity.com
Proposed US surveillance regime would enlist more businesses The Register - Many US businesses may be required to assist in government-directed surveillance - depending upon which of two reform bills before Congress is approved. Under rules being considered, any telecom service provider or business with custodial access to ...
10 months ago Go.theregister.com
Merck Settles NotPetya Insurance Claim, Leaving Cyberwar Definition Unresolved - A legal definition of cyberwar and its relationship with kinetic war has been avoided by a settlement between Merck and its insurers over damage caused by NotPetya. Merck had lodged an insurance claim for $1.4 billion for damage caused by the ...
10 months ago Securityweek.com
What Is Android System WebView and Should You Uninstall It? | Definition from TechTarget - Android developers use WebView when they want to display webpages or Hypertext Markup Language content in a Google app or other application. Android System WebView is a system component for the Android operating system (OS) that enables Android apps ...
1 month ago Techtarget.com
Definition from TechTarget - Cyber attacks aim to disable, disrupt, destroy or control computer systems or to alter, block, delete, manipulate or steal the data held within these systems. They're identified as nation-state attackers, and they've been accused of attacking the IT ...
10 months ago Techtarget.com
Definition from TechTarget - The CISO is a senior-level executive responsible for developing and implementing an information security program, which includes procedures and policies designed to protect enterprise communications, systems and assets from both internal and external ...
10 months ago Techtarget.com
Definition from TechTarget - BYOD is a policy that enables employees in an organization to use their personally owned devices for work-related activities. Smartphones are the most common mobile device an employee might take to work, but they also take their own tablets, laptops ...
9 months ago Techtarget.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)