With our world moving towards digitization, the occurrences of cyber crimes on systems can be highly damaging. As technology progresses and more people depend on internet-abled services for everyday activities, including storing their credit card details and transacting money online, cyber crimes are becoming more common than ever. The consequences of these digital attacks are destructive and can cause some serious damage.
One of the most popular and oft-occurring forms of crime in the world, cybercrime can be defined as the exploitation of computer networks, systems, and technology-dependent enterprises intentionally. There are different types of cyber crimes that use malicious code to modify data and gain unauthorized access.
Cyber crimes are categorized into three broad categories, individual, property, and government. Based on each category of cyber crime, cyber criminals use different levels and types of threats.
Let’s explore various types of cyber crimes prevalent today.
A web attack affects the computer via the internet. These viruses can be downloaded from the internet and end up causing large-scale and irreversible damage to your system.
SQL injection is a type of cybercrime that effectively employs malicious codes and manipulates backend databases to access information that is not intended to be displayed. These mostly involve private and sensitive data items including the likes of user lists and customer details, among others. SQLI can have long-term devastating effects such as the deletion of tables, unauthorized viewing of any user list, and even administrative access to databases.
Cross-Site is another type of injection breach where attackers send malicious scripts from websites that are deemed responsible or reputed. Attackers inject malicious codes into trusted websites and applications and when a user visits such infected web page, the malicious JavaScipt code is executed on the user’s browser. This code can be used to steal important information like usernames and passwords.
These are the attacks that aim at shutting down services or networks and making them inaccessible to the intended users. These attacks overwhelm the target with a lot of traffic and flood the same with information that can cause the website to crash. DDoS Attacks are targeted primarily at web servers of high-profile organizations such as the government or trade firms.
These are simply meant to decrypt or even attempt to obtain a user’s password with the help of criminal intentions. Attackers can use Dictionary Attacks, Password Sniffers, or even Cracking programs in such cases. These attacks are conducted by accessing passwords that are exported or stored in a file.
An eavesdropping attack begins with the interception of network traffic. This type of cybercrime is also known as Sniffing or Snooping. In this type of cybercrime, individuals attempt to steal information that computers, smartphones, or other devices receive or send.
These are networking attacks where attackers attempt to directly log into the user’s accounts by checking and trying out different possible passwords until they find the correct ones.
Not all network attacks are executed by outsiders. The inside attack is a very common type of cybercrime. It is performed on a network or a system by individuals who have authorized access to the same system.
A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when attackers eavesdrop on the communication between two entities. This type of cybercrime affects both the communicating parties as the attacker can do anything with the interpreted information.
Computer systems are now programmed to learn and teach themselves, and these AI-powered attacks mark a new type of cybercrime that is bound to get more sophisticated with time.
AI is employed in many everyday applications with the help of algorithmic processes referred to as Machine Learning. This software is aimed at training computers to perform specific tasks all on their own. They can also accomplish these tasks by teaching themselves about obstacles that can potentially hinder their progress. AI can also hack many systems, including autonomous drones and vehicles, and convert them into potentially dangerous weapons. The AI-powered applications can be used for performing cyber crimes such as Password Cracking, Identity Theft, and automated, efficient and robust attacks.
Drive-by attacks are used to spread malware through insecure websites. Hackers first look for websites with lesser security parameters and then plant malicious scripts into PHP or HTTP code onto one of the pages. The script can then directly install the malware onto the computer of anyone who visits the site.
The Phishing Attack is a Social Engineering attack that is used to steal precious data such as login credentials or credit card details as attackers pretend to be trusted individuals and trick victims into opening malicious links.
These attacks are aimed at specific organizations’ data by individuals who desire unauthorized access. These hacks aren’t executed by any random attackers but by individuals who are trying to access specific information like trade secrets, military intelligence, etc.
A Whale Phishing Attack is a type of Phishing that generally attacks people with high statures, such as CFOs or CEOs. It primarily aims at stealing information as these individuals typically have unlimited access and are involved with sensitive data.
Malware is an umbrella term for a code/program that is intentionally built to affect or attack computer systems without the user’s consent.
Ransomware generally blocks victims’ access to their own data and deletes the same if a ransom is not paid.
Trojan Horse is a type of malicious software program that attempts to disguise itself to appear useful. It appears like a standard application but causes damage to data files once executed.
A teardrop attack is a form of attack that causes fragmentation in the general sequence of Internet Protocol (IP) packets and sends these fragmented packets to the victim’s machine that is attacked.
The Ping of Death Attack is a type of cybercrime where IP packets ping target systems with IP sizes that are much over the maximum byte limit.
PUPs is an abbreviation for Potentially Unwanted Programs. These are a form of malware that is less threatening than other types of cyber crimes. This type of attack uninstalls the required search engine and pre-downloaded apps in your systems. Therefore, it is a good idea to install antivirus software to prevent malicious downloads.
Now that we’ve explained the various types of cybercrimes, let’s dig deep and learn about the history of cybercrime, the impact of cybercrime on society, and how to fight cybercrime.
In the 1970s, the malicious link to hacking was first documented when early computerized phones became a target. Tech-savvy people called ‘Phreakers,’ who were the first hackers, have found a way to make long-distance calls through a series of codes by modifying software and hardware. This incident made people aware that computer systems are vulnerable to crime, and more complex systems are susceptible to cybercrime.
Cybercrime has posed a huge threat to internet users by stealing millions of information from users in recent years. It has also caused a huge dent in the global economy. According to Gartner, the global demand for Cyber Security is expected to hit $170.4 billion by 2022. 95% of Cyber Security violations occur because of human error, according to Cybint.
Cybercrime is undoubtedly one of the biggest concerns in today’s digital era, but there are many simple and effective online security available in the market. Continuous development of new security initiatives and strategies to keep pace with criminals is necessary; thus, it is imperative to keep up with current developments in the Cyber Security domain.
Listed below are some of the ways to fight different types of cybercrime:
In this article, we talked about 19 different types of cyber crimes. If you’re looking for an extensive course that can thoroughly guide you about popular cyber crimes as well as help you learn offensive cyber security techniques to safeguard systems, then Jigsaw’s Guaranteed Placement* Postgraduate Certificate Program in Cybersecurity is the perfect course for you! It is designed to help learners who aspire to become Cybersecurity Experts, master the skills and techniques needed to kickstart their respective careers in this promising domain.
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