Computer anti-virus and
firewall programs can both detect and prevent cyber attacks; however,
some attacks use social engineering or get through digital security and
create noticeable symptoms on your system. Large-scale cyber attacks can
bring down websites, local networks and even major Internet
infrastructure. According to Forbes and PC World, a large-scale cyber
attack brought down Internet speeds across the planet for many sites
when malicious-site filtering company Spamhaus's servers were under
attack.
Denial
of service and distributed denial of service attacks are commonly used
forms of cyber attacks that take down individual sites and networks. The
symptoms of a DoS or DDoS attack include incredible slow Internet, slow
local network access and inaccessible websites. DoS and DDoS attacks
work on the principle of knocking down a computer system by overloading
it with data requests. Systems are designed to respond to what they
perceive as legitimate requests, so the system gets overloaded trying to
fulfill an overwhelming number of dummy data requests. DoS attacks come
from deliberately configured computers of a single origin, whereas DDoS
attacks hijack other computers to increase the number of bogus data
requests. Computer firewalls are the best program method to detect and
prevent DoS and DDoS attacks as they can identify attacks and ignore
requests.
Malware Attacks
Malware
attacks target and disrupt individual systems; viruses, a type of
malware, use the systems to replicate and spread. Actively running
anti-virus software can automatically detect malware attacks, and
malware that gets past the anti-virus may show user-identifiable
symptoms. Malware can cause a computer to run slower than it should,
hang up at seemingly random intervals, produce pop-up windows and cause
periodic system crashes. You may be under a malware attack if your
computer's general behavior changes. Malware attacks can be prevented
and removed by running up-to-date anti-virus software and periodically
running full system anti-malware scans.
Socially Engineered Attacks
Some
cyber attackers try to trick you into handing over private information
through misdirection: socially engineered attacks don't use any
malicious software. Phishing is a type of socially engineered attack
that tricks you into entering personal information like social security
numbers, credit card numbers and account passwords by sending a link
through an email that claims to be from a legitimate service, but
redirects to a fake reproduction of the actual site. For example, a
phishing scam login page looks like a bank's normal login page, but when
you enter the password, it sends the account information to the
scammer.
Preventing and Detecting Attacks
You
can't do much to prevent services you use from being attacked, but you
can protect your own network and computers. Keeping up-to-date firewall
and anti-virus software provides a great first line of defense: these
programs can detect and flag attacks. If your network shares an Internet
connection through a router, using a router that has a built-in
firewall can prevent attacks. Socially engineered attacks can be avoided
by typing in site URLs manually instead of clicking links when the
service requires personal information.
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