Safer Internet Day: How To Spot and Prevent Online Threats

Safer Internet Day is an annual celebration held in the UK which is usually held in February dedicated to informing others on a safer internet environment by explaining how to use tech responsibly. For this year, Safer Internet Day is held on February 6th, 2024, with the theme of ‘Inspiring Change’, which is dedicated to looking into how we can make a difference on the internet and navigate change online. At TCS, we thought we’d do our part in Safer Internet Day by taking a look at some of the different online threats a user can experience every day, exploring how to tackle and resolve these threats. Let’s get into it.

What are the types of cyber security threats?

·       Malware.

·       Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks.

·       Phishing.

·       Ransomware.

·       Spam.

·       ATM Cashout.

·       Spoofing.

·       Identity-Based Attacks.

·       Code Injection Attacks.

·       Hacking.

·       Supply Chain Attacks.

·       Insider Threats.

What are the 5 main threats to cyber security?

Malware

Malware is probably the most common form of cyber-attack, where malicious programming is delivered and installed on a user-end system and server. Their main goal is to cause harm to a computer or network and is mainly done so that a hacker can obtain data for some form of financial gain.  

Malware, although the most common, is very easy to avoid however. By installing a selection of protection software plus using strong passwords and multifactor authentication on all sensitive data is a great way to keep your systems and services secure.

Phishing

Phishing is another common type of threat. Done when a hacker takes a user to an imposter website that has been infected with malware software by sending them a link that has been disguised by embedding it in a logo or email.

The best way to detect this scam is simply hovering your mouse over the URL or any images. If the link name doesn’t match up with the URL then don’t click on it, it isn’t authentic.

Code Injection Attacks

These attacks inject code into an application, it is the exploitation of a computer bug which is caused by processing invalid data. Usually, this is done so the hacker can begin processing invalid data onto a website.

This can be prevented by limiting the amount of code that can be introduced to your website, therefore never getting an overflow of code injection.

Insider Threats

An insider threat is very different to the other threats because this one comes from inside an organisation rather than from a stranger. It is when a current or former employee with legit credentials misuses their access to purposefully harm the companies’ data or network.

By installing security policies this is a simple way to stop a threat. Another suggestion is to set up a strong authentication method and implementing threat detection programmes.

DoS Attacks

And finally, our last cyber attack we want to inform you of is a DoS Attack which stands for Denial Of Service. These attacks are done when a user is prevented from accessing expected services and resources. The targeted host is flooded with useless traffic until the target crashes. The main purpose of this attack is to render a service as inaccessible.

To solve this, we recommend downloading a traffic filter which eliminates known or suspicious malware sources. An example of this is the Blackhole Route, where a network route is set up which goes nowhere, so ingoing or outgoing traffic is silently discarded without telling the sender the email wasn’t sent successfully.

Conclusion:

These are only 5 of the common cybersecurity threats which can affect a user every day. In fact, there are hundreds and hundreds happening every day, with statistics showing that even in 2024 there is 1 cyberattack every 39 seconds. So make sure to keep note of these threats this safer internet day 2024 and take a look at the rest which we listed above, keep safe and enjoy internet browsing responsibly!