Network Attacks and Network Security Threats (And Preventions)
Network Attacks and Network Security Threats (And Preventions). A network helps with the smooth running of a business. With a network, you can easily share information with the whole organization. Networks make business operations easier to maintain, but it also comes with a security risk because your network can become susceptible to network attacks and network security threats.
What are network attacks and network security threats? If you’re new to cybersecurity, you might need a proper understanding of what they mean. This article guides you through all you need to know about network attacks and network security threats. Not only will you understand what they mean, but we will also give you tips on how you can best prevent them from happening.
Let’s start with Network Attacks and Network Security Threats (And Preventions).
What are Network Attacks?
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Firstly, network attacks are actions (usually unauthorized) taken to destroy or gain access to an organization’s information on their network. After gaining access to an organization’s information, it is either stolen or used for any other disruptive activity. Network attacks are usually targeted at the nodes of a network. When these nodes get attacked, it becomes easy to access an organization’s network through different types of attacks.
Types of Network Attacks
Passive Network Attacks
Passive network attacks are usually stealthy kinds of attacks. This attack means a malicious party can infiltrate an organization’s network and steal as well as monitor the network’s information. Because these malicious parties are not making any changes to the network, it makes it hard for you to recognize that the network has been breached.
Active Network Attacks
Active network attacks usually concentrate on changing and damaging a network’s data. When a malicious party breaches a network actively, it is always easy to spot. The reason it’s easy to spot is because you will notice unauthorized changes being made on the network and the continual loss of data.
Ways Network Attacks are Carried Out
- Malware Attacks: Malware is software designed to destroy or damage computer systems and networks. When malware is sent to a network, it allows the attackers to effectively damage the data on the network as well as steal a few of these data.
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- Vulnerabilities Attack: Many networks do not necessarily have a strong security system. The lack of security is because an organization needs to improve on this or be more educated about it. The lack of proper cyber security on a network will mean that this said network is filled with a lot of vulnerabilities. Network attacks use this vulnerability to attack and damage a network.
- Endpoint Attacks: Endpoint attackers typically gain access to a network through one of the user services. After gaining access to the network, the attackers either steal data or introduce malware to damage the network.
- Persistent Attacks: Persistent attacks are more complex than others. This complexity is because persistent attacks usually involve a combination of all the above listed attacks. These multi layered attacks usually confuse an organization on where the attack might be targeted and what they can do to prevent it.
What are Network Security Threats?
Any threat to the data on a network is known as a network security threat. There are numerous types of network security threats, but it is important to understand some basic concepts about network security threats. As stated, any threat to the data in a network is a network threat, but these threats also come in different categories.
Categories Of Network Security Threats
External Security Threats
Just like the name implies, these are threats organized and sent by other organizations in an attempt to either damage or destroy your network. This external threat is usually executed with the plan to destroy the business operations of your network.
Internal Network Security Threats
These are threats on a network that arise from within the organization itself. These threats are usually from an employee or a spy who has managed to infiltrate an organization and gain access to its network. With this internal access, they destroy and damage a lot of data on the network. Your organization’s network risks getting an internal security threat if you do not properly vet the people you employ.
Structured Threats
Structured threats are usually well-planned threats created and sent by professional cyber criminals or attackers. These threats usually follow a pattern of well, planned attacks that focus on a particular goal. If the goal is to steal data, the threat is usually developed to fit this particular goal and is usually effective.
Unstructured Network Security Threats
Unlike structured network security threats, unstructured threats do not have a particular goal in mind and are not developed with precision. Amateur cyber criminals or attackers usually carry out this type of threat.
Types Of Network Security Threats
One thing to understand is that network security threats are constantly evolving. This evolution means they are getting much more complex and better at damaging a network once they are introduced to it. This damage is especially true if you have low network security. With low security, you are exposed to the different types of threats below:
Malware
As explained earlier, malware is software designed specifically to disrupt and damage a network. Malware can be sent to your network by a malicious party such as a virus or worm. If it gets anywhere close to a network, it rapidly spreads throughout this network while damaging all existing data the network might have stored.
Phishing
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Phishing is a method used by cyber criminals to trick people into opening suspicious links and filling in their information. This information can now be stolen by cybercriminals and used to cause damage. On a network, phishing works by gaining information about a network and using this information to infiltrate the network to either cause damage to data or steal more data.
Many professional cyber criminals usually carry out this method, which requires a lot of patience. It is among the most popular methods in the cyber attack world. Phishing targets a particular network node or the whole network itself.
DDOS Attack
DDOS, known as distributed denial of service attack, is usually done by making a particular network resource or service unavailable to its users. This denial disrupts the workflow of an organization, and it can cause a network to crash due to the inability to access certain services on that network. This attack is usually carried out by professional cyber criminals who have no other intentions than to bring down a particular organization’s network.
Ransomware
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Ransomware works almost the same as malware, but the difference here is that ransomware encrypts all the data on a network and holds it captive. This data captivity forces the network’s organization to pay a “ransom” to the network attacker before they gain access to their network again. Ransomware is usually sent the same way malware is sent — through suspicious files, links, and sometimes through phishing.
Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)
Advanced persistent threats are sophisticated network threats. In advanced persistent threats (APT), an attacker infiltrates a network and remain undetected. The attackers steal data and confidential information while they stay undetected on the network. This attack can last long because it is very difficult to detect the attackers as there will be no signs to indicate that the network has been breached.
SQL Injections
SQL injections involves injecting malicious code into the source code of a network in an attempt to get a good view of the vulnerabilities available on the network. Once these vulnerabilities have been discovered, attackers can exploit them. Exploiting a vulnerability on a network makes it easy to breach it and gain access to the private or confidential data that has been stored on it.
How to Prevent Network Attacks and Network Security Threats
By now, you should understand the effects that a network attack would have on your network. It is important that you prevent these network attacks and also network security threats. Otherwise, your network may get disrupted or damaged while losing all of your data. Below are steps to prevent network attacks and network security threats:
Segregate the Network
You must divide your network into different sections. These sections are divided, based on the security needs of each section. Segregation helps minimize a cyber attack’s effect if it succeeds. The effect of a cyber attack will only be limited to one section of the network instead of the whole network.
This segregation will frustrate attackers and keep them on their toes about how they can attack every single section. The attackers will, of course, find this very hard to pull off. When your network is segregated, it is easy to recover from an attack.
Regulate Access
You should also limit access to every part of your network. In an organization, certain employees should be permitted certain network parts through a password. This limited access gives you more control over who sees confidential data on a network.
In addition, only allow your network users to access the internet if they are monitored. You should pass all the requests to access the internet through a proxy. Use this proxy (transparent) to monitor users’ network activities while accessing the internet. It would be good if you made sure that all connections (inbound and outbound) are not made by bots but by humans.
Use Security Tools
Your network is more vulnerable to attacks and threats if you do not use a security tool. These tools help to scan and inform you of vulnerabilities on a network, and they also help to detect any malicious activity on the network. Security plays its part in helping you eliminate some of these threats when found.
For instance, you can place a firewall at every junction on the network. Firewalls help to get rid of any unauthorized access to a network. It also helps you to monitor and keep track of the traffic and activities going on in the network.
Closely Monitor the Network
It is not enough to use security tools. You must also constantly monitor the changes going on within a network yourself. This monitoring applies most especially to traffic. You need to know the outgoing and incoming traffic on a network and the purpose they serve.
To get a good read, you can combine different information from the different security tools placed on your network to monitor the network’s activities accurately. It would also help if you stayed consistent in monitoring the network. It is the best way to recognize and prevent threats before they happen.
Implement Deception Technology
Deception technology creates a perfect decoy of your network, and this deceives an attacker into thinking they are attacking your network when they are attacking only a decoy. The deception technology also comes with a few other uses, such as making it easy to understand how a cybercriminal plans to attack a network.
When an attacker attacks the decoy, you can study the techniques they use, so you can use this knowledge to strengthen your entire network. Cynet 360 is a perfect example of deception technology.
Use Threat Intelligence/Employ a Threat Hunter
With the basic knowledge of how network threat works, you can use this knowledge to hunt them down on a network and eliminate them actively. Of course, this works hand in hand with your security tools. If you aren’t quite familiar with the complexities of network attacks, you can also hire a threat hunter. Threat hunters specialize in helping you strengthen your network by implementing and upgrading security tools while they also actively search for threats on a network.
Thank you for reading Network Attacks and Network Security Threats (And Preventions). We will conclude.
Network Attacks and Network Security Threats (And Preventions) Conclusion
As an organization, networks make it easy to carry out business operations. Many files and information are stored on this same network that can be accessed by its users and used for different purposes. At the same time, this said network is exposed to attacks and security threats.
In this article, we have explained the meaning of network attacks and network security threats. With a basic understanding of these terms, it is clear that it is important to implement preventive measures to stop them from happening. You can use a security tool, segregate the network, use deceptive tools, or even hire a professional to help you out with network attacks and security threats.
Read more about networking in our blog over here.
