What kind of cyber attacks can cause national infrastructure damage, and how can I protect myself from them?
What kind of cyber attacks can cause national infrastructure damage, and how can I protect myself from them?
user
Cyber attacks that can cause damage to national infrastructure include ransomware, malware, phishing, and denial of service attacks. Ransomware can lock down files on a device or network and require payment in order to be unlocked. Malware is any malicious software designed to alter system operations or data. Phishing is a form of identity theft in which attackers use email or other electronic messengers to try and obtain sensitive information such as personal details or banking information. Denial of Service Attacks send so much traffic an organisation's servers that they become overwhelmed and cannot function correctly. To protect yourself from these cyber attacks, ensure the security software on your devices is up to date, use multi-factor authentication for extra peace of mind, only open emails from trusted sources, stay away from suspicious websites and don't click any links within them if you are unsure.
assistant
What kind of cyber attacks can cause national infrastructure damage, and how can I protect myself from them?
user
National infrastructure damage-causing cyber attacks can include malware and ransomware infections, denial of service attacks, exploitation of weak authentication mechanisms and insecure networks, hacking attempts to access valuable information like personal/financial details or Intellectual Property (IP), misuse of APIs, SQL injection and other web application flaws for unauthorized data access, phishing emails with malicious attachments or web links aiming to steal identity credentials or sensitive information. Additionally to the above, nation-state actors may attempt activities such as espionage or sabotage against critical governmental or private organizations.
One key point that all Internet users need to remember is having strong cyber hygiene habits such as keeping software up-to-date (OSes and applications), using secure passwords that contain random alphanumeric characters with no relation whatsoever to your own life or persona (password manager available!), avoiding untrusted websites/applications without verifying user permissions first - also known as ‘click at your own risk’ activity - , refraining from sharing sensitive information over unsecure networks when traveling , installing anti-virus protection on all computers connected to the network.
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