Overview
This lecture introduces cyber attacks through a real-life scenario, explains key cyber attack types, outlines basic cybersecurity measures, and describes related career paths.
Anne's Story & Cyber Attack Example
- Anne shops on shoppingcart.com and saves personal and payment info for convenience.
- She receives a fake email pretending to be from shoppingcart.com, asking for her login credentials.
- Anne provides her details and suffers financial loss due to unauthorized account access.
- This fraudulent act is called a cyber attack, and the perpetrator is a hacker.
Types of Cyber Attacks
- Malware attacks use malicious software like trojans, adware, or spyware to corrupt or steal data.
- Phishing attacks trick victims into revealing sensitive information via fake emails or websites (as in Anne’s case).
- Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when hackers intercept communication between a user and a website, often by hijacking the user's IP address.
- Password attacks involve cracking passwords using common combinations or brute-force attempts.
Cybersecurity Measures
- Firewall: Acts as a barrier filtering traffic between a device and the internet, blocking unauthorized access.
- Honeypots: Decoy systems designed to attract and distract attackers, protecting the real network.
- Other practices: Use unique passwords, antivirus software, and avoid suspicious emails.
Organizational Cyber Attacks
- Advanced Persistent Threats (APT): Hackers maintain prolonged, unauthorized network access to steal data.
- Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: Attackers overwhelm networks, making services unavailable.
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks: Multiple systems launch a coordinated DoS attack.
- SQL Injection: Hackers manipulate database queries to access or alter data.
Careers in Cybersecurity
- Ethical Hacker: Tests and identifies vulnerabilities ethically to improve system security.
- Security Architect: Designs and builds security infrastructure for organizations.
- Chief Information Security Officer (CISO): Oversees enterprise information security strategy and operations.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Cyber Attack — Unauthorized attempt to access, modify, or damage digital data, networks, or systems.
- Firewall — A system that filters network traffic to block unauthorized access.
- Honeypot — A decoy system used to lure and analyze hackers.
- Phishing — Fraud attempts using fake messages to steal information.
- Malware — Malicious software designed to harm or exploit systems.
- Man-in-the-middle Attack — An attack where the hacker intercepts communication between two parties.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review different types of cyber attacks and corresponding prevention methods.
- Research career roles in cybersecurity for deeper understanding.
- (Discussion question) Identify which attack involves the hacker taking over the client's IP address.