What are different types of attacks on a system

Many approaches exist to gain access are different types of attacks on a system. One common requirement for all such approaches is that the attacker finds and exploits a system’s weakness or vulnerability.

Types of attacks on a system

1. Operating System Attacks

Today’s Operating Systems (OS) are loaded with features and are increasingly complex. While users take advantage of these features, they are prone to more vulnerabilities, thus enticing attackers. Operating systems run many services such as graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that support applications and system tools, and enable Internet access. Extensive tweaking is required to lock them down. Attackers constantly look for OS vulnerabilities that allow them to exploit and gain access to a target system or network. To stop attackers from compromising the network, the system or network administrators must keep abreast of various new exploits and methods adopted by attackers, and monitor the networks regularly.

By default, most operating systems’ installation programs install a large number of services and open ports. This situation leads attackers to search for vulnerabilities. Applying patches and hot fixes is not easy with today’s complex networks. Most patches and fixes tend to solve an immediate issue. In order to protect the system from operating system attacks in general, it is necessary to remove and/or disable any unneeded ports and services.

Some OS vulnerabilities include:
– Buffer overflow vulnerabilities
– Bugs in the operating system
– An unmatched operating system

Attacks performed at the 05 level include:
– Exploiting specific network protocol implementations
– Attacking built-in authentication systems
– Breaking file-system security
– Cracking passwords and encryption mechanisms

2. Misconfiguration Attacks

Security misconfiguration or poorly configured security controls might allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to the system, compromise files, or perform other unintended actions. Misconfiguration vulnerabilities affect web servers, application platforms, databases, networks, or frameworks that may result in illegal access or possible system takeover. Administrators should change the default configuration of the devices before deploying them in the production network. To optimize the configuration of the machine, remove any unneeded services or software. Automated scanners detect missing patches, misconfigurations, use of default accounts, unnecessary services, and so on.

Also Read : Top 10 Most Common Types of Cyber Attacks
Related Product : Certified Ethical Hacker | CEH Certification

3. Application-Level Attacks

Software developers are often under intense pressure to meet deadlines, which can mean they do not have sufficient time to completely test their products before shipping them, leaving undiscovered security holes. This is particularly troublesome in newer software applications that come with a large number of features and functionalities, making them more and more complex. An increase in the complexity means more opportunities for vulnerabilities. Attackers find and exploit these vulnerabilities in the applications using different tools and techniques to gain unauthorized access and steal or manipulate data.

Security is not always a high priority to software developers, and they handle it as an “add-on” component after release. This means that not all instances of the software will have the same level of security. Error checking in these applications can be very poor (or even nonexistent), which leads to:

• Buffer overflow attacks
• Sensitive information disclosure
• Denial-of-service attacks
• SQL injection attacks
• Cross-site scripting
• Phishing
• Session hijacking
• Parameter/form tampering
• Man-in-the-middle attacks
• Directory traversal attacks
• SQL injection attacks

4. Shrink-Wrap Code Attacks

Software developers often use free libraries and code licensed from other sources in their programs to reduce development time and cost. This means that large portions of many pieces of software will be the same, and if an attacker discovers vulnerabilities in that code, many pieces of software are at risk.
Attackers exploit default configuration and settings of the off-the-shelf libraries and code. The problem is that software developers leave the libraries and code unchanged. They need to customize and fine-tune every part of their code in order to make it not only more secure, but different enough so that the same exploit will not work. 

An attack can be active or passive. An “active attack” attempts to alter system resources or affect their operation. A “passive attack” attempts to learn or make use of information from the system but does not affect system resources (e.g., wiretapping).you can learn all types of attack in CEH v10 location in Mumbai. The infosavvy provides the certified Ethical hacking training and EC Council Certification.  

5. Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack

A MitM attack occurs when a hacker inserts itself between the communications of a client and a server. Here are some common types of man-in-the-middle attacks:

Session hijacking

In this type of MitM attack, an attacker hijacks a session between a trusted client and network server. The attacking computer substitutes its IP address for the trusted client while the server continues the session, believing it’s communicating with the client. as an example , the attack might unfold like this:

1. A client connects to a server.
2. The attacker’s computer gains control of the client.
3. The attacker’s computer disconnects the client from the server.
4. The attacker’s computer replaces the client’s IP address with its own IP address and spoofs the client’s sequence numbers.
5. The attacker’s computer continues dialog with the server and therefore the server believes it’s still communicating with the client.

IP Spoofing

IP spoofing is used by an attacker to convince a system that it’s communicating with a known, trusted entity and provide the attacker with access to the system. The attacker sends a packet with the IP source address of a known, trusted host rather than its own IP source address to a target host. The target host might accept the packet and act upon it.

Replay

A replay attack occurs when an attacker intercepts and saves old messages then tries to send them later, impersonating one among the participants. this sort can be easily countered with session timestamps or nonce (a random number or a string that changes with time).

Currently, there’s no single technology or configuration to stop all MitM attacks. Generally, encryption and digital certificates provide an efficient safeguard against MitM attacks, assuring both the confidentiality and integrity of communications. But a man-in-the-middle attack are often injected into the center of communications in such how that encryption won’t help — for instance , attacker “A” intercepts public key of person “P” and substitute it together with his own public key. Then, anyone wanting to send an encrypted message to P using P’s public key’s unknowingly using A’s public key. Therefore, A can read the message intended for P then send the message to P, encrypted in P’s real public key, and P will never notice that the message was compromised. additionally , A could also modify the message before resending it to P. As you’ll see, P is using encryption and thinks that his information is protected but it’s not, due to the MitM attack.

So, how can you confirm that P’s public key belongs to P and to not A? Certificate authorities and hash functions were created to solve this problem. When person 2 (P2) wants to send a message to P, and P wants to be sure that A won’t read or modify the message which the message actually came from P2, the following method must be used:

3. P2 creates a symmetric key and encrypts it with P’s public key.
4. P2 sends the encrypted symmetric key to P.
5. P2 computes a hash function of the message and digitally signs it.
6. P2 encrypts his message and therefore the message’s signed hash using the symmetric key and sends the whole thing to P.
7. P is able to receive the symmetric key from P2 because only he has the private key to decrypt the encryption.
8. P, and only P, can decrypt the symmetrically encrypted message and signed hash because he has the symmetric key.
9. he’s ready to verify that the message has not been altered because he can compute the hash of received message and compare it with digitally signed one.
10. P is additionally ready to convince himself that P2 was the sender because only P2 can sign the hash in order that it’s verified with P2 public key.

6. Phishing and spear phishing attacks

Phishing attack is that the practice of sending emails that appear to be from trusted sources with the goal of gaining personal information or influencing users to do something. It combines social engineering and technical trickery. It could involve an attachment to an email that loads malware onto your computer. It could even be a link to an illegitimate website which will trick you into downloading malware or handing over your personal information.

Spear phishing may be a very targeted sort of phishing activity. Attackers take the time to conduct research into targets and make messages that are personal and relevant. due to this, spear phishing are often very hard to spot and even harder to defend against. one among the only ways in which a hacker can conduct a spear phishing attack is email spoofing, which is when the information within the “From” section of the e-mail is falsified, making it appear as if it’s coming from someone you recognize , like your management or your partner company. Another technique that scammers use to add credibility to their story is website cloning — they copy legitimate websites to fool you into entering personally identifiable information (PII) or login credentials.

To reduce the danger of being phished, you’ll use these techniques:

• Critical thinking — don’t accept that an email is that the real deal just because you’re busy or stressed otherwise you have 150 other unread messages in your inbox. Stop for a moment and analyze the e-mail.
• Hovering over the links — Move your mouse over the link, but don’t click it! Just let your mouse cursor h over over the link and see where would actually take you. Apply critical thinking to decipher the URL.
• Analyzing email headers — Email headers define how an email need to your address. The “Reply-to” and “Return-Path” parameters should lead to the same domain as is stated within the email.
• Sandboxing — you’ll test email content during a sandbox environment, logging activity from opening the attachment or clicking the links inside the e-mail .

Read More : https://www.info-savvy.com/what-are-different-types-of-attacks-on-a-system/

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