Methods used in cyber warfare and cyber attack

Just like other warfare, Cyber warfare is a digital war where computer viruses are sent instead of army and hacking into database with the aim to create damages and destruction. With the increasing use of computer and technology in almost every field obstruction of data can be a bigger war than an actual war. Acquiring sensitive data about a country, business, person or anything that relies in computational functions are in risk if the data is lost which can cause metamorphosis of a certain company that relies hugely on computer. There are diverse methods that various people or nations, for a set of diverse reasons, can damage computers or information network. Cyber-attack is a broad picture of cyber warfare, similar types of methods are used in cyber warfare and cyber-attack. When a nation’s database or the system of one of its branches is attacked for war reasons or for manipulation, the term cyber warfare is used.

There are diverse methods that various people or nations, for a set of diverse reasons, can damage computers or information networks. In a broad picture, espionage is one of the cyber-attacks, espionage in literal meaning refers to the practice of spying. Spying using a computer falls under cyber-attack. Another type is sabotage, sabotage is the act of destroying data. Changing the propaganda digitally is another type of cyber-attack. Disruption of economy is another huge concerned area of cyber-attack.

Malware in commonly known as computer virus. “Malware is a term used to describe malicious software, including spyware, ransomware, viruses, and worms. Malware breaches a network through a vulnerability, typically when a user clicks a dangerous link or email attachment that then installs risky software” [1]. Malware is the most common and the most dangerous type of a cyber-attack. Malware can be of many types and they are sent by hackers intending to block and/or change network keys or settings, damage information from a computer or a network of computers, sabotage and most importantly disable a system.

Denial of service (DoS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) is, as the name suggests, a type of cyber-attack that denies a user form getting into an online system or database. “A denial-of-service attack floods systems, servers, or networks with traffic to exhaust resources and bandwidth. As a result, the system is unable to fulfill legitimate requests. Attackers can also use multiple compromised devices to launch this attack” [1].

SQL injection is a type of cyber-attack where the attacker uses SQL code to acquire any sort of information from a computer. “A Structured Query Language (SQL) injection occurs when an attacker inserts malicious code into a server that uses SQL and forces the server to reveal information it normally would not. An attacker could carry out a SQL injection simply by submitting malicious code into a vulnerable website search box” [1].

Man-in-the-middle attack is the type of cyber-attack that interrupts or attacks a computational communication. An attacker inserts himself in a conversation between two parties, either personal communication or interaction between a user and an application making it appear like a normal conversation. “Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, also known as eavesdropping attacks, occur when attackers insert themselves into a two-party transaction. Once the attackers interrupt the traffic, they can filter and steal data.

Two common points of entry for MitM attacks:

1. On unsecure public Wi-Fi, attackers can insert themselves between a visitor’s device and the network. Without knowing, the visitor passes all information through the attacker.

2. Once malware has breached a device, an attacker can install software to process all of the victim’s information” [1].