As the field of cybersecurity has expanded with the development of technology so has the growth of cyber threats. There are many types of threats that are present within the online realm. It can be something as simple as gaining access to a person’s private information to a more extreme case such as downloading viruses onto others computers. There are six types of threats outlined within the reading.

The first type of threat presented by the reading are APTs otherwise known as Advanced Persistent Threats. These attacks are dangerous due to the persistent nature of the perpetrators. The attack is launched through a series of five steps. The steps are reconnaissance, incursion, discovery, capture, and exfiltration. These steps allow for the perpetrator to slowly infiltrate his or her way into a target’s database and gather information on them. The second type of attack are DDoS or Disturbed Denial of Service. This attack targets a specific website of either a person or business and overloads it. This causes the website to be unreachable by other people and can be detrimental specifically if the website is used for business transactions. The third type is what is known as an inside attack. It can be perpetrated by a person who was fired from the company on bad terms or a fake business representative. The attack is carried out by infiltrating the company’s mainframe and stealing confidential information. Malware is a common threat that has the goal of being downloaded onto a target’s computer. It can open the opportunity for personal information to be stolen. The final two are known as password attacks and phishing. Password attacks are targeted at solving the password of a computer in order to gain access to anything they might find on it. Phishing is a form of attack where a person receives a legitimate looking website that’s sole purpose is to steal information out of them.

These forms of attacks are growing every day as society continues to progressively become more technologically advanced. The examples given allow people to get a basic idea of how these threats are perpetrated and a bit of how to avoid them. People can now have the knowledge of these cyber threats and be able to examine them and develop ways to combat against them.

References:

Tutorial 2: Introduction to Cyberthreats. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2019, from https://www.sbir.gov/tutorials/cyber-security/tutorial-2#