Cybersecurity 101: Keeping your home, devices, and family safe from cyberattacks

Note: This primer serves as the introduction to a series of articles on consumer security. 

Common forms of cyberattacks

What is a cyberattack? Knowing your enemy is one step on the road to protecting yourself. Some of the most common cyberattacks include:

Malware attacks

Malware is the most common type of cyberattack, mostly because this term encompasses many other attacks like ransomware, trojans, spyware, viruses, worms, keyloggers, bots, cryptojacking, and any other type of malware attack that maliciously leverages software. Here, we’ll look at the more common forms of ransomware, trojans, and worms.

• With ransomware, the victim’s system is held hostage until they agree to pay a ransom to the attacker. After the payment has been sent, the attacker then provides instructions regarding how the target can regain control of their computer. The name "ransomware” is appropriate because the malware demands a ransom from the victim.
  
   
• A trojan is malware that appears to be legitimate software disguised as native operating system programs or harmless files like free downloads. Trojans are installed through social engineering techniques such as phishing or bait websites. For example, the Qbot trojan has acquired additional functionalities to steal passwords, emails, and credit card details. Commonly propagated through spam emails, it employs various techniques such as anti-VM, anti-debugging, and anti-sandbox methods to impede analysis and avoid detection. 
  
   
• A worm is a self-contained program that replicates itself and spreads its copies to other computers. A worm may infect its target through a software vulnerability or be delivered via phishing or smishing. Embedded worms can modify and delete files, inject more malicious software, or replicate in place until the targeted system runs out of resources.

Phishing and Smishing scams

Phishing involves using social engineering, via a seemingly trustworthy email or website to entice users into clicking a dangerous link that installs malware on their devices. Similar attacks include vishing and smishing, in which hackers use fraudulent phone calls, voicemails, and text messages to obtain victims' personal information.

Man-in-the-middle attack

A “man-in-the-middle” attack is so-called because the attacker positions themselves in the “middle” or between the two parties trying to communicate. In effect, the attacker is spying on the interaction between the two parties. Both parties feel like they are communicating normally, but the attacker in the middle can illicitly modify or access the message before it reaches its destination.

Zero-day attack

A zero-day attack occurs when a vulnerability or previously undiscovered flaw in an application or operating system leaves a gap in security that is exploited for a cyberattack, for which there is no defence or patch because the software developer does not know it exists. i.e. they've had “zero days” to prepare an effective response.

Nobody ever said that keeping yourself, your devices, and your data safe from those who would do you harm was easy. Understanding the different threats, knowing where you're at risk, and how to protect yourself can be confusing. 

But it doesn't have to be that difficult either. In this series of articles, we'll take you through some of the common cyberattacks that you can expect to encounter, how to install a more secure home network, how to keep your smart home devices safe, keep your data safe from theft, answer the age-old question whether you need anti-virus protection, how to create a strong password, and what steps can be taken to remedy a successful cyber-attack. 

Cybersecurity 101

Cyberattacks are something that we’ve learnt to live with as the number of cyberattacks has grown exponentially over the years. These days, it's no longer a question of “if” but “when” your device will be hacked and you lose your data.

Unfortunately, anyone can be a victim of cyberattacks. Whether you are an individual user, business, charity, or even a government body, a cyberattack to identify and then exploit a weakness in a device, computer, or network of an unsuspecting or careless user can gift cybercriminals unauthorised access to personal or organisational data, to carry out petty theft, and even acts of war.

Read on to learn more about network, device, and data security in our consumer security series of articles below.

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