What are the most common types of computer attacks and what methods, programs and antivirus are there to defend you? 2022 list

Although it is true, viruses are one of the biggest and main battles facing the digital world today, as well as the hyperconnected society. In particular, because according to computer experts, Every second about three viruses are created on planet Earth and the consequences of its spread are truly unequal.

In this sense, computer viruses are the cause of considerable inconvenience in Internet users and thus, are responsible for data theft, document destruction and other serious crimes within an online environment. Taking into account that they all operate in different ways and while some manage to slow down your computer to insufferable speeds, others only concentrate on making you lose information of interest or steal it from you.

For all this and much more, it is worth knowing what are the main types of computer attacks that exist today and for this reason, below, we will detail the most common of these. Additionally, we provide you with information about types of programs that you can use to defend yourself against these powerful threats.

What are the most common types of computer attacks and viruses?

In principle, we offer you a list with each and every one of the most recognized and common computer attacks and viruses, today. This, in order that you know the main threats that surround the digital world and thus, you can avoid them in a certain way.

Now then, we indicate the most relevant characteristics of the most common computer viruses:

Denial of service attacks (DoS and DDoS)

Without a doubt, this computer threat is one of the most feared, due to its economy of execution and, above all, because it is extremely difficult to trace the attacker. Which consist of making various requests to a server with the aim of causing it to collapse and in particular, that it is blocked.

Thus, the so-called “DDoS attacks”, can be defined as an attack on a computer system or network that causes or makes a certain service or resource completely inaccessible to legitimate users. In this way, can cause loss of network connectivity by the consumption of information transfer or bandwidth of the victim’s network.

In addition to this, it should be noted that denial of service attacks are very effective and this effectiveness is due to the fact that they do not have to overcome the security measures that normally protect a server. Well, these do not try to penetrate inside but rather, block it and that’s it.

Among other things, although there are various techniques, the most common of all lies in the use of botnets or computers infected with Trojans and worms in which the user himself does not know that he is taking part in the attack.

Exploits

Basically, it is defined as an illegal or unethical attack that takes advantage of any vulnerabilities in networks, applications, or hardware. So, they are estimated as errors in the software development process that lead to security breaches that cybercriminals can use to access said software and with this, the entire computer.

In this way, this kind of attack, in general, materializes in software or code and with it, its purpose is gain control of a computer system and at the same time steal data stored on a network. Thus, users may not recognize this type of attack until it is already too late. For this reason, it is recommended to always have the software updated.

It should be noted that, exploits can be classified based on the type of vulnerability they affect. Be it zero-day, impersonation, denial of service, etc. Due to its wide spread in the digital world, software vendors release security patches for all weaknesses they are aware of and even with this, the program can remain at risk.

computer worm

It is a program that infects the computer and once it is done, is responsible for making copies of itself and spreading them through the network. In this way, it moves them away to different locations on the computer with the full objective of crashing computers and computer networks to prevent the work of all its users.

It is appropriate to highlight that computer worms are a subclass of viruses, in reality; They are considered as a type of malware. Among its most relevant characteristics, we find that it does not require your intervention or a backup medium, unlike the virus. This, due to the fact that can be transmitted using networks or email.

In addition to this, the present class of computer attack it’s totally hard to spot, since they do not affect the normal operation of the system, actually; since its purpose is to ensure the diffusion of the threat and with it, infect other computers.

trojan

Another of the most recognized computer attacks today are Trojans that are very similar to viruses. However, the latter are self-destructive and instead, the trojan virus simply seeks to open a back door for succeed in sponsoring the entry of other malicious programs into the system and apart from that, they cannot multiply like computer viruses and worms do.

Usually a Trojan attack disguises itself as legitimate software and with that, hackers and cybercriminals take advantage to steal your confidential data, carrying out actions such as: blocking, modifying, deleting or copying data; like a disruption of computer performance and computer networks.

For their part, Trojan attacks are also known as “Trojan Horses” because its mission is similar to these, due to the fact that it goes unnoticed and thus manages to enter systems without being detected as a true potential threat. Taking into account that they can even be bundled into apparently harmless executable files.

malware

malware is a generic term that usually refers to any malicious softwareas it describes malicious codes that cause damage to systems.

Which, has as its main objective, to infiltrate a system to cause powerful destruction in it and thus, are considered intrusive and intentionally unpleasant threats that try to invade, deteriorate and even disable equipment, computer systems, networks, mobile devices and tablets.

In this sense, in general, malware assumes partial control of the operations of a certain device and intercede in its normal functioning. With this, viruses are considered a type of malware, just like Trojans, computer worms and other attacks of this kind.

Over time, it has been pointed out that the most relevant intention of malware is based on take money from the user in an illicit way. Thus, it tries its best to steal, encrypt or delete your data to hijack basic computer functions and spy on your every move without permission. Although, these they do not have the power to damage systems hardware.

phishing

Certainly, it is not a software malicious but rather a social engineering technique which is used by cyber thieves to obtain as much confidential information as possible from users; such as: names, passwords and especially credit card details with just Impersonate a legitimate and trustworthy organization.

On the other hand, the means most used by phishing are email, messaging and phone calls. Which, seems to come from legal and recognized companies such as PayPal, a bank, a government agency or any known entity. But all this is based on imitations to request your confidential information and then use it for their own benefit.

Thus, when you receive this attack from your email, they may ask you to update or validate information about your account; so that you are redirected to a fake website and there, it is where they easily obtain your data to provoke the usurpation of your identity. Therefore, although it cannot be eliminated, phishing can be easily detected by monitoring your website.

spoofing

also translated as “impersonation”this type of digital threat refers to the use of identity theft techniques for malicious or investigative purposes, generally, using a fake IP address. Since, specifically, the spoofing It is responsible for replacing the source IP address of a TCP/IP packet with another IP address that you want to replace.

In this way, this computer attack can be achieved thanks to programs designed for that purpose, only. In this sense, the attacker from his team simulates the identity of another machine on the network to find access to resources from a third party system that has established some trust. This trust is based on the name or IP address of the host that will be spoofed.

Among other details, their attack models can be classified depending on the technology they use. With this, they are all included in the idea that any network technology is vulnerable to identity theft and the most recognized are: IP spoofing, email spoofing, DNS spoofing, Web spoofing, etc.

spyware

It is defined as a spyware program whose purpose is collect information about your equipment with complete peace of mind, in view of the fact that its work is usually completely silent and does not show signs of its operation in order to obtain said information quickly. In addition to this, it is responsible for installing other programs without prior notice and also slows down operating systems and software execution.

Among its most interesting features, we find that the spyware slow down operating systems and programs, because tends to consume a lot of machine resources and of course, thus preventing its normal operation.

In addition to this, spyware has the unique feature of automatically placing windows to attempt to sell certain products and services; which are based on that information collected by those malicious programs.

In short, its specific objective is the capture and monitoring of the movements of users of computer equipment and at present, it is evaluated that over 80% of personal computers may be infected with spyware.

Adware

This concept is used in the field of computing to refer to those virus types and software that automatically show advertisements to the user. In other words, its main function is to display advertisements so that the manufacturer of the software in question can obtain profits from said advertisements.

Added to this, the adware Aside from collecting users’ personal information, it also focuses on manage to record keystrokes And till track all the websites the person visits, thoroughly.

With which, they obtain more details about the user’s movements from their computer, to display such annoying advertisements. They also achieve a remarkable system slowdown and cause feelings of instability.

Usually, this type of software is updated automatically and without notifying the user beforehand; so that may appear invisible in most cases. In addition to that, it should be noted that there are two types of adware and they are: legitimate and potentially unwanted.

Of course, the latter are very dangerous because they can obtain data such as the user’s location, as well as their passwords and IP addresses.

Ransomware

Currently, this cyber attack is one of the most feared and worse still, because it is constantly growing. In such a way, the ransomware is defined as a very modern and sophisticated type of malware that aims to, hijack your data by encrypting or locking it and then proceed to demand a ransom for them. In this way, to be able to request a transfer in any digital currency and thereby ensure the user the possibility of avoiding tracking and location.

In this sense, it is considered as a novel criminal system that expect to earn money, easily and quickly; through threats. Unfortunately, these can be installed from deceptive links that are added in an email message, instant message, or from a web page. However, one of the most common methods is via malicious spam that introduces attached files as a trick to obtain links to malicious websites.

In addition to this, it must be taken into account that ransomware-type malware has the ability to completely block the screen of a computer and thus proceed to encrypt the most important files hosted on the system. Taking into account that there are several kinds of ransomware and the most famous are: encryption ransomware, scareware and screen lockers.

typosquatting

It is just one of the many resources used by cyber criminals or hackers, in order to obtain benefits from many victims. These types of attacks usually occur due to users’ negligence when entering the addresses of the web pages they visit.

What happens is that computer criminals are always on the lookout for any mistake made by common users. They buy the domain names similar to the pages most visited by users. A clear example can be Facebook, and a potential address to do typosquatting would be “facebook.com” either “facebook.com”.

Types of programs and antivirus to defend against computer attacks

With the purpose of detect, block and/or remove a virusvarious antivirus solutions have been created that will allow you to defend yourself against computer threats that, day after day, can stalk you and significantly affect you if you are a hyperconnected user.

So, to prevent these attacks as much as possible, here we present you what are the best types of software you can use for it:

anti-spyware

Refers to a type of program designed to discover, detect and remove malicious or threatening software on a computer, known as spyware. In other words, they have the ability to reveal those spy programs that are hidden on the computer.

That way, if you use a anti-spyware on your computer, you will be able to avoid or delete all software with a tendency to obtain and send sensitive information about you to a malicious third party and without your prior consent. It is worth mentioning that, antispyware works in two ways:

• From spyware capture in real time and once it is detected, it tries to block it before said program has a chance to settle in the root directory or a specific area of ​​the computer.
• The other way how it works is making use of an updateable list of known spyware to protect the computer and instead of blocking the download of malicious software, it is responsible for detecting and eliminating those that have already entered the computer.

Firewalls or Firewalls

This type of solution is defined as a system that prevents unauthorized access and use of your computer. Given that they are programs that have the main function of restricting access to a certain system and thus, they act as a kind of defensive wall. In addition, they have the incoming and outgoing traffic of a computer in your custodyin order to prevent the execution of any action of dubious origin.

For its part, the firewalls they can be software or hardware and even a combination of both. Which, are used in conjunction with regular updates of the operating system and also an optimal antivirus software to add greater security and protection to the network or to the computer; taking into account that a firewall is not responsible for eliminating virus problems from the computer, specifically.

Thus, simply, each message that leaves or enters the Intranet will go through this tool and if it does not meet certain security criteria, it will will block each message once examined.

AntiPopUps

They consist of tools in charge of identify and prevent the execution of pop-ups or pop-up windows that are usually so annoying for users. Well, they are those that appear suddenly and without the user himself having approved it while browsing the network.

Taking into account that, generally, in these windows lurks various spyware waiting to steal people’s data without notice. In addition to that, it is known that there are several types of AntiPopUps and with different results. Since, some of them are more effective than others when it comes to detecting pop-up windows.

Nevertheless, all AntiPopUp classes They have the ability to block annoying pop-ups and can alert the user how many windows have been isolated. In addition to this, most of these tools are introduced in antivirus programs, firewalls or firewalls and even in browsers.

Anti SPAM

Basically, it is a utility that is used to prevent the arrival of junk mail or spam to the inbox of your email address, which are also known as spam messages or those that have been sent from an address unknown to the user. In this way, anti-spam programs are capable of detect this class of messages and delete them automatically.

Usually a service anti-spam It includes features such as email spam and virus filtering and easy management from a web-based control panel. Thus, a type of tool that will allow you reduce the risk of opening fraudulent or malicious emails.

In addition to this, different categories of antispam can be distinguished and these are:

• Those that require actions on the human part to be executed properly.
• Programs that operate automatically and well, so are the same emails and/or administrators.
• Those that are used by investigators and officials who are responsible for enforcing the laws of a country.
• Those that are automated by email senders.

anti-malware

Beyond being a tool, the anti-malware can be defined as a program that has all the necessary functions to block and remove any form of malware existing on a computer or system. In this way, it allows you to get rid of being a victim of any malicious software that manages to infiltrate your computer to damage it.

Ultimately, by design, antimalware programs can prevent, identify, and remediate malware on individual computing devices as well as IT systems. Usually, they are usually the same “antivirus”since both computer terms are related as a specific type of malware.

On the other hand, regarding the types of antimalware that currently exist, we distinguish the following:

• Standalone anti-malware: Detects and removes certain viruses, and is known as a portable software because it supports installation on a USB and can be used to perform emergency scanners.
• Cloud anti-malware: It has the ability to analyze files directly in the cloud, instead of doing it from the computer. With this, it manages to free up computational resources and offers a faster response.
• Security software packages: It is a type of malware with the power to detect and delete viruses, in addition to presenting a fight against all other malicious threats to provide absolute protection to its clients.