You will have more than likely already heard of many of the most common types of cyber scams that are currently circulating. It is no secret that the internet is full of such threats to your private data, and you may have a great antivirus software already installed on your computer. As a result, you might be wondering why it is necessary to keep revisiting this topic, when it is clear that cyber crime is widely known about.
Well, the reason is that although cyber crime is understood to be a problem by most internet users, few people bother to take the time to educate themselves on why these threats take place, how they work and how to protect themselves from falling victim to these scammers.
In fact, ignorance causes most victims of cyber attacks to fall prey to them. If you had a basic understanding of how they worked or the tell-tale signs of a scam, then you would be far more likely to withstand them. To help you better understand the most common forms of cyber attacks, here is a short list of some of the most prevalent cyber threats.
Insider threats
An insider threat is arguably the most common, yet little talked about type of cyber attack. Insider threats are rarely talked about because they aren’t as cut and dry as phishing scams or malware.
You can’t attribute an insider threat to some faceless hacker at the other side of the world, or as a horrible blackmail incident that captures the public imagination. Instead, an insider threat is, as the name suggests, an individual within an organization who either wittingly or unwittingly causes a security breach.
This could be because the person has left a device in a public place, has fallen victim to a scam, or has become disgruntled and deliberately sabotaged the company.
If you have shared logins and passwords, then you may be at risk of this happening to you. Therefore, you should manage your accounts better using a CIEM.
Malware
Another common threat that you need to be aware of is malware. This is a particularly insidious form of cyber attack, because it essentially leaves you powerless to stop it from ruining your life.
Malware is a form of software that, once exposed to your computer, infects it and takes over control of it. By doing this, malware can extract sensitive information or even money directly from your device.
Phishing scams
Last but certainly not least, there are phishing scams. If you have been on the internet for any meaningful amount of time, you will likely have already encountered a phishing scam of one sort or another.
A phishing scam is a message (commonly an email or SMS text message) that poses as a trusted third party. This could be anyone from your best friend to a bank manager, accountant, tax authority or well-known brand. They use this instant trust and rapport to extract information from you, which can then be used to steal your sensitive data or money.