The 5 Most Common Cyber Attacks & Ways to Avoid Them

Open suspicious links received to your mailbox? Forget to update the system? Not using two-factor authentication? Congratulations – you're at risk! However, there is no reason for panic. We tell you how to protect your PC from hackers and cyber attacks. The number of cybercrime continues to grow, and the situation is becoming more dangerous. Although the global side of the problem continues to grow, the main types of attacks do not change – they have been known for many years. No one is protected from hacking – neither ordinary users nor large corporations. Let's look at the five most popular hacker attacks and ways to protect against them.

1. Viruses (Ransomware Viruses)

A virus is usually called malicious software that infects a computer or other computing device when a user opens an email attachment or follows a link to a malicious website. The ransomware virus is a specialized virus that encrypts all files in the system and does not give the user data until a ransom is paid. To reduce the likelihood of infection with similar viruses, you need to be vigilant and learn to recognize suspicious files and questionable requests. In addition, you must use security software, for example, solutions from Bestvpnrating.com or from any other specialized forums.

2. Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP)

Potentially unwanted programs are trojans, spyware, or adware. They are usually installed along with another, useful program that the user decides to download. Such programs can secretly record all keystrokes, scan files on your hard drive, and read browser cookies. To protect against this threat, do not download or install applications, browser extensions, or other programs from unreliable websites. In addition, you should set up a regular backup of the contents of the device to an external disk or online backup service.

3. Phishing

Phishing is a way of hacking with the help of emails, in which the user is trying to cheat and force the one to transfer the login and password or other important information. Using email protection software for Internet privacy will help detect suspicious links and block spam and messages with malicious attachments, and multifactor authentication helps protect your account, even if the password has been stolen.

4. An Acc Hack

A hacker can gain access to a user account using a "frontal attack," when a special program goes through a variety of login and password options – usually using a dictionary and other passwords stolen earlier. To prevent this from happening, you need to use VPN service and block login to your account after a certain number of login attempts. You can also protect yourself from automatic login attempts using a test that distinguishes a person from a robot, for example, reCAPTCHA.

5. Long-Updated or Outdated Software

Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in system software and web applications to execute unauthorized code, gaining access to the system or stealing information. We can recall the example of Equifax – they had installed the Apache Struts web framework, which was not updated in time. This led to a rage of 143 million social security numbers (in the USA this is an important taxpayer identification sign), addresses, driver's license numbers, and credit cards.