Current Cyber Attacks

A cyber attack is an attack that is mounted against us by means of cyberspace. Cyberspace, a virtual space that doesn’t exist, has become the metaphor to help us understand digital weaponry that intends to harm us. Best practices to help prevent an IoT attack include updating the OS and keeping a strong password for every IoT device on your network, and changing passwords often.

When a tech vendor discovers a security flaw in their product, they typically write code that fixes or “patches” the problem. Nation-states are the sources of many of the most serious attacks. There are several different versions of nation-state cyber threats. Some are basic espionage— trying to learn another country’s national secrets. Motives for data breaches include crime (i.e. identity theft), a desire to embarrass an institution (e.g. Edward Snowden or the DNC hack), and espionage.

National Security Agency of engineering a backdoor to monitor companies and governments in over 45 countries around the world. Hackers targeted the Telegram accounts of Ukrainian government officials with a phishing attack in an attempt to gain access to the accounts. Russian hackers targeted the Costa Rican Ministry of Finance in a cyberattack, crippling tax collection and export systems. The newly elected President of Costa Rica declared a national emergency as a result of the attack and the group asked for $20 million in ransom or it plans to leak the stolen data. We focus on cyber attacks on government agencies, defense and high tech companies, or economic crimes with losses of more than a million dollars.

The intent might be to inflict reputational damage or harm to a business or person, or theft of valuable data. Cyber attacks can target individuals, groups, organizations, or governments. Cybercriminals use many different methods to launch a cyber attack, a phishing attack, an exploitation of compromised credentials, and more. From this initial access, cybercriminals can go on to achieve different objectives including malware infections, ransomware, denial of service attack, data theft, and more. A cyberattack occurs when cybercriminals try to gain illegal access to electronic data stored on a computer or a network. Cyberattacks can target individuals, groups, organizations, or governments.

These alerts, current activity reports, analysis reports, and joint statements are geared toward system administrators and other technical staff to bolster their organization's security posture. Taking the right security measures and being alert and aware when connected are key ways to prevent cyber intrusions and online crimes. Learn how to protect your computer, network, and personal information.

Cyber attackers often use a flood attack to disrupt the “handshake” process and carry out a DoS. Several other techniques may be used, and some cyber attackers use the time that a network is disabled to launch other attacks. A botnet is a type of DDoS in which millions of systems can be infected with malware and controlled by a hacker, Powerhouse according to Jeff Melnick of Netwrix, an information technology security software company.

Crime reports are used for investigative and intelligence purposes. Rapid reporting can also help support the recovery of lost funds. Visit ic3.gov for more information, including tips and information about current crime trends.