What are cyber threats and what are the best mechanisms to avoid or at least minimize cyber threats?
Cyber or cybersecurity threats are a malicious act that seek to damage data, steal sensitive information, or disrupt business functions. Moreover, cyber threats may include computer malwares, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), social engineering, and other security threat vectors. Besides, cyber threats may emanate from corporate espionage, hostile nation-state, hacktivists, man-made or natural disasters, intentional or inadvertent actions from employees, terrorist groups, and related sources.
The most common prevalent cyber threats may include the following:
- Malware Attacks
- Social Engineering
- Phishing Attacks
- Ransomware Attacks
- DDoS Attacks
- Spyware Attacks
- Zero-Day Exploits
- Trojan Attacks
- Malvertising
- Drive-by Downloads
- Spam Attacks
- Unpatched Software
- Covert Channels
- Race Conditions
- Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks
- Rootkits Attacks
- Injection Attacks
- Insider Threats, such as Disgruntled Employees
- Grudge Attacsk
- More
Organizations and individuals can protect themselves from cyber threats by taking comprehensive precautionary measures and cybersecurity controls or safeguards. Nowadays, the threat landscape of cybersecurity is expanding and may be difficult to predict where threats may come from. More importantly, organizations could rely on security awareness training, penetration testing, risk assessment, vulnerability management, security audits and related strategies to understand the threats organizations may face and protect themselves from the prevalent cyber threats.