The internet has become a scary place for some people in recent years. The news of big corporations leaking their customer’s data has gotten people worried.
Cyberattacks are expected to keep increasing in the future as well. According to reports, a cyberattack happens every 39 seconds. You can’t be too careful when the risk for an attack is so high.
You can’t protect yourself if you don’t know how hackers work. Keep reading to learn seven hacking techniques that you need to know.
1. Keyloggers
Your passwords are one of the most sensitive pieces of information that you have. They provide access to your bank accounts, social media sites, online shopping, and anything else that you do online.
Keyloggers are one of the simplest methods for a hacker to grab your password. A keylogger is a piece of software that gets installed on your computer. It keeps track of every key you press on your keyboard.
Typically, a keylogger will send the information it tracks at specific times. Once a hacker gets that data, they will be able to log in to any site you accessed since the keylogger was installed on your computer.
2. Phishing
In today’s world, more people than ever are aware of the dangers of downloading unknown files. This trend makes it hard for hackers to convince people to download malicious software.
This has caused many hackers to start using phishing techniques. Phishing happens when a hacker pretends to represent a company where you have an account. They send their victims a communication, in hopes that they tell them sensitive information.
The first type of phishing is malicious websites. The victim receives an email claiming to be from a business. The attacker captures the information that’s entered on the site to compromise the victim’s account.
The next type happens on the phone. Attackers try to get personal information about their victims. They use this information to impersonate victims when speaking with other companies.
3. Man-In-the-Middle-Attack
Anybody that uses public WiFi runs the risk of exposing themselves to a man-in-the-middle-attack. This attack happens when a hacker sets up a WiFi hotspot in a public location.
Victims will connect to these hotspots, thinking that the establishment that they’re visiting owns it. Once you connect to a malicious hotspot, a hacker can see everything that you do.
Not only that, but attackers can also put fake versions of websites on their hotspot. When you type in the URL for a popular website, a fake version will show up on your browser. Hackers can steal whatever information you type on these sites.
4. Ransomeware
Not all hackers are out there to take your information. Some of them are fine with preventing you from seeing the data you have.
A ransomware attack happens when you download a malicious file. When you open it, the ransomware will scan all the files on your computer and encrypt them with a password.
If you’re on a network, things are worse. This attack can find all the devices on your computer network, spread to them, and infect the files on those devices too.
The next time you try to open one of your files, you get a message demanding a ransom. If you send the payment, the hacker will give you the key to unencrypt your data.
There isn’t much that you can do when this attack infects your computer. This means it’s vital that you have a backup solution in place in case it happens to you.
5. Cookie Theft
Cookies are a way for websites to track information about their users. They use them to store login information, personal information, and many other things that help websites learn about people.
Unfortunately, they are also a common way for hackers to steal information. If a hacker has access to your network traffic, they can view the cookies that you use with websites.
If a website isn’t careful, it can leave sensitive information exposed. Always be sure you use sites using the HTTPS protocol. Doing this will make sure your internet is encrypted to and from a website.
6. DDoS Attack
It isn’t easy to gain access to someone’s computer. This leads some hackers to disrupt things, rather than a break-in.
A DDoS attack happens when a hacker sends a lot of internet traffic to one place. They use computers from around the world to send traffic to one place at once.
Your internet provider can’t handle this much traffic. When you receive this traffic, it overloads your network and makes it so you can’t use the internet. You’ll be in the dark until the attack stops, or your ISP can mitigate the DDoS attack.
7. Malware
Malware is the type of cyberattack that you’re most familiar with. It’s been around since computers first started coming to the internet.
Malware is a piece of software that is installed on your computer. Unlike other types of attacks that are single-purpose, malware can serve many functions.
You can expect malware to steal your data, log your keystrokes, show unwanted popups, mine cryptocurrency, and many other things.
The good news is that malware is detectable by most anti-virus software. If you keep the virus protection on your computers up to date, you aren’t at significant risk for being infected.
The only thing you need to worry about is new malware that hasn’t been detected yet. If you want to protect against hackers, you still need to be cautious when downloading files from places you don’t trust.
There Are More Hacking Techniques Out There
Don’t think you’re safe now that you know about the hacking techniques above. There are a lot more threats out there on the internet. Always stay aware, so you don’t fall victim to a cybercrime.
Now that you know more about keeping your data safe, you can start making better use of tech. Keep reading our blog to discover how tech can make everything easier.
