Security Attacks

There are all kinds of Security Attacks out there. A few are listed below:

• Black Hat
• BlueBugging
• Botnet (Zombie PCs)
• Crapware
• DoS (Denial of Service)
• Hacker Attacks
• Keylogging
• Logic Bomb
• Phishing
• Pod Slurping
• Ransomware
• Scareware
• Script Kiddies
• Sidejacking
• Smishing
• Social Engineering
• Trojan Horse
• Virus
• White Hat
• Worm

Black Hat: Black Hat is a group of hackers that attack computer systems and use computers to attack systems for profit, for fun, or for political motivations. They also utilize botnets to deliver viruses and worms.

BlueBugging: BlueBugging is when someone illegally accesses a cellular phone using Bluetooth wireless technology. This would allow the hacker to make phone calls and to do texting via bluetooth that they BlueBugged into. This type of attack can only occur when the hacker and cellphone are within range of each other which is about 30 feet.

Botnet (Zombie PCs): Botnet is the combination of Robot and Network. Botnet computers are Internet computers that inconspicuously forward email, worms, viruses, and spam across the Internet without the users knowledge.

Crapware: Crapware is an application that is installed on a computer either when it was built or by the user that uses up hard drive space and RAM. An example of crapware is AOL.

DoS (Denial of Service): DoS or Denial of Service is when a website or computer is attacked leaving users unable to connect to the website or computer. A Denial of Service message is displayed.

Hacker Attacks: Hacker Attacks are when someone illegally tries to gain access to a network or a computer.

Keylogging: Keylogging is when keystrokes are recorded over the Internet to obtain a user account and password information.

Logic Bomb: A Logic Bomb is a virus that lays dormant until an event triggers it such as a date, user action, or a random trigger.

Phishing: Phishing is when a user receives an email to go to a website and “fix” their account but entering their account name and password. Many people fall for these types of attacks thinking that the website they are visiting is legit.

Pod Slurping: Pod Slurping is when an iPod starts copying tons of data from a computer on to its internal hard drive. This can occur in as little as 65 seconds.

Ransomware: Ransomware is when a program makes a computer unusable and in order for the computer to become useful again a ransom is requested.

Scareware: Scareware is software that tricks a person into downloading it in hopes of fixing their computer problems. The person will use the software to perform a scan of their computer where viruses would be listed (excluding the scareware) and in order to fix the computer and rid it of the viruses the person would have to pay a fee for a “full” or “registered” version of the scareware application.

Script Kiddies: Script Kiddies is a term that hackers use for white hat hackers that find system vulnerabilities and fix them. The reason for the name Scipt Kiddy is used to describe young or inexperienced hackers who can be as dangerous and annoying as other hackers.

Sidejacking: Sidejacking is a form of hacking where a person's website account and password are obtained through accessing the session-id that the website sends. The hacker will then use the session-id to gain access to the person's account on the website.

Smishing: Smishing is also known as SMS phishing which is a phishing attack that is specific to cellphones. An SMS message would be received by the target cellphone with a link to a malware application specific for cellphones.

Social Engineering: Social engineering is when someone tries to obtain private data by illegally persuading an individual to give up their important information.

Trojan Horse: A Trojan Horse is when a seemingly harmless application is downloaded to a computer but then that application opens up a backdoor in to the computer for a hacker.

Virus: A Virus is an application that destroys or renders useless a computer. It is actually a felony to intentionally destroy another computer.

White Hat: White Hat is when a hacker notices a vulnerability in a system and fixes it. It is called White Hat because in the old westerns, the guy in the white hat was the good guy and the guy in the black hat was the bad guy.

Worm: A worm is a virus that slowly makes a computer useless or too slow to use. It can either alter data on the computer or erase it.

• The best way to protect yourself from security attacks is to make sure your network, computer, and or cellphone is secure. Try using a secure password that is at least 8 digits in length and is both alpha-numeric and a symbol of some sort. You can even use a capital letter to help make your password more secure. Also, try to change your password every 30 days or so. But do not write your password down or keep it in a file on the computer. Make sure the password is one that is both secure and easy to remember.
• When using a wireless router make sure to using WPA2 for security. WEP and WPA can both be hacked. WPA2 can be hacked as well but it is much harder to do so and takes great effort.
• Install a well-known antivirus application on your computer such as AVG, McAfee, or Norton Anti-virus. Remember that only one antivirus application can be installed at one time.
• Another thing to do is change the administrator password on your computer if it is a Windows computer. If you don't change the administrator password it will be the default password which will allow someone to access your computer. Also, disable remote computing on your computer as this is another way for someone to gain access to your computer.
• Disabling bluetooth when it is not being used is also a safe way to safeguard your computer or cellphone. Bluetooth allows for bluetooth devices to connect to your computer or cellphone. As is described up above bluetooth can be a way for someone to connect to your computer or cellphone and access data and cause problems.

References: http://lifehacker.com/5749098/the-computer-attacks-youve-never-heard-of http://www.windowsecurity.com/whitepapers/Wireless-Security-Attacks-Defenses.html http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/security/recommendations/secattacks.html