The History of Cybersecurity
Why and how things came to be
Past Cybersecurity Attacks
Computer Virus: Malicious code written to interfere with computer operations and cause damage to data and software
Worm: A type of computer virus that can duplicate and spread on its own without human involvement
Malware: Software designed to harm devices or networks
Attacks in the Digital Age
Onel De Guzman created the LoveLetter malware to steal internet login credentials. This attack spread rapidly and took advantage of people who had not developed a healthy suspicion for unsolicited emails. Users received an email with the subject line, "I Love You." Each email contained an attachment labeled, "Love Letter For You." When the attachment was opened, the malware scanned a user's address book. Then, it automatically sent itself to each person on the list and installed a program to collect user information and passwords. Recipients would think they were receiving an email from a friend, but it was actually malware. The LoveLetter ended up infecting 45 million computers globally and is believed to have caused over $10 billion dollars in damages. The LoveLetter attack is the first example of social engineering.
Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human error to gain private information, access, or valuables.
Phishing is the use of digital communications to trick people into revealing sensitive data or deploying malicious software.
Common Attacks and Their Effectiveness
Phishing
Phishing is the use of digital communications to trick people into revealing sensitive data or deploying malicious software.
Some of the most common types of phishing attacks today include:
Business Email Compromise (BEC): A threat actor sends an email message that seems to be from a known source to make a seemingly legitimate request for information, in order to obtain a financial advantage.
Spear phishing: A malicious email attack that targets a specific user or group of users. The email seems to originate from a trusted source.
Whaling: A form of spear phishing. Threat actors target company executives to gain access to sensitive data.
Vishing: The exploitation of electronic voice communication to obtain sensitive information or to impersonate a known source.
Smishing: The use of text messages to trick users, in order to obtain sensitive information or to impersonate a known source.
Malware
Malware is software designed to harm devices or networks. There are many types of malware. The primary purpose of malware is to obtain money, or in some cases, an intelligence advantage that can be used against a person, an organization, or a territory.
Some of the most common types of malware attacks today include:
Viruses: Malicious code written to interfere with computer operations and cause damage to data, software, and hardware. A virus attaches itself to programs or documents, on a computer. It then spreads and infects one or more computers in a network.
Worms: Malware that can duplicate and spread itself across systems on its own.
Ransomware: A malicious attack where threat actors encrypt an organization's data and demand payment to restore access.
Spyware: Malware that’s used to gather and sell information without consent. Spyware can be used to access devices. This allows threat actors to collect personal data, such as private emails, texts, voice and image recordings, and locations.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is a manipulation technique that exploits human error to gain private information, access, or valuables. Human error is usually a result of trusting someone without question. It’s the mission of a threat actor, acting as a social engineer, to create an environment of false trust and lies to exploit as many people as possible.
Some of the most common types of social engineering attacks today include:
Social media phishing: A threat actor collects detailed information about their target from social media sites. Then, they initiate an attack.
Watering hole attack: A threat actor attacks a website frequently visited by a specific group of users.
USB baiting: A threat actor strategically leaves a malware USB stick for an employee to find and install, to unknowingly infect a network.
Physical social engineering: A threat actor impersonates an employee, customer, or vendor to obtain unauthorized access to a physical location.
Social engineering principles
Social engineering is incredibly effective. This is because people are generally trusting and conditioned to respect authority. The number of social engineering attacks is increasing with every new social media application that allows public access to people's data. Although sharing personal data—such as your location or photos—can be convenient, it’s also a risk.
Reasons why social engineering attacks are effective include:
Authority: Threat actors impersonate individuals with power. This is because people, in general, have been conditioned to respect and follow authority figures.
Intimidation: Threat actors use bullying tactics. This includes persuading and intimidating victims into doing what they’re told.
Consensus/Social proof: Because people sometimes do things that they believe many others are doing, threat actors use others’ trust to pretend they are legitimate. For example, a threat actor might try to gain access to private data by telling an employee that other people at the company have given them access to that data in the past.
Scarcity: A tactic used to imply that goods or services are in limited supply.
Familiarity: Threat actors establish a fake emotional connection with users that can be exploited.
Trust: Threat actors establish an emotional relationship with users that can be exploited over time. They use this relationship to develop trust and gain personal information.
Urgency: A threat actor persuades others to respond quickly and without questioning.
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