What is a Cyber attack

A cyber attack is a malicious and deliberate attempt by an individual or organization to

breach the information system of another individual or organization. Usually, the Cyber
attacks (sometimes called “computer attacks”) are basically any illegal or unauthorized
attempt to infiltrate computers or computer networks, with the intent to steal, destroy,
share or otherwise use existing digital asset like some type of benefit from disrupting the
victim’s network. A cyber attack can maliciously disable computers, steal data, or use a
breached computer as a launch point for other attacks. Cybercriminals use a variety of
methods to launch a cyber attack, including malware, phishing, ransom ware, denial of
service, among other methods.

How to prevent a cyber-attack

Phishing

If any email takes us to a page where you’re required to log in (unless you’ve specifically
asked for a password change), we should be suspicious.

The header of the email will give us a good understanding of whether the sender is legitimate
or not. Failing that, think about getting directly in contact with the company in question.

Use a firewall - Firewalls monitor traffic between our computer or network and the Internet and
serve as a great line of defense when it comes to keeping intruders out. We should use the firewall
that comes with our security software. And if we have a home wireless network, enable the firewall
that comes with our router.

Click with caution - When you’re checking our email or chatting over instant messenger (IM), we
should be careful not to click on any links in messages from people we don’t know. The link could
take us to a fake website that asks for our private information, such as user names and passwords,
or it could download malware onto your computer. Even if the message is from someone we know,
we be cautious. Some viruses replicate and spread through email, so look for information that
indicates that the message is legitimate.

Practice safe surfing - When navigating the web, we need to take precautions to avoid phony
websites that ask for our personal information and pages that contain malware. Use a search engine
to help us navigate to the correct web address since it will correct misspellings.

Practice safe shopping - In addition to practicing safe surfing, we also need to be careful where we
shop online. We should be cautious when shopping at a site that we’ve never visited before and do a
little investigation before we enter your payment information. Look for a Trustmark, such as McAfee
SECURE™, to tell us if a site is safe.

Use common sense - Despite the warnings, cybercrime is increasing by common mistakes people
make such as responding to spam and downloading attachments from people they don’t know. So,
we should use our own common sense whenever we’re on the Internet. Never post personal
information online or share sensitive information such as our social security number and credit card
number.